


A Moment Beyond

by fatefulfaerie



Series: Momentous [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Genre: Adventure, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Moral Dilemmas, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 75
Words: 103,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23948917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fatefulfaerie/pseuds/fatefulfaerie
Summary: It’s been over a year since Link defeated Demise and laid the Master Sword to rest. Link, Zelda, and Groose are thriving on a Surface they know little of. Their life and future seems to be speeding them along, but will the past get in the way? Rated "Teen and Up Audiences" for dark themes, mild adult themes, and mild language.
Relationships: Karane/Pipit (Legend of Zelda), Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Series: Momentous [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726495
Comments: 52
Kudos: 24





	1. Admittance

**Author’s Note: Hello and welcome to my first ever sequel to one of my own works! I’ve been planning this for a while now but with shelter-in-place restrictions (and a fair bit of procrastinating on schoolwork) I’ve had the time to really chip away at it.**

**This is a sequel to “One Moment”, a fic posted in early 2019 that follows the events of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Although there are instances where I reference that prior work and the small things I added to the original story, I feel that this can just as easily be taken as a post-Skyward Sword fic if you do not have the time nor the energy to read “One Moment”. There are spoilers, obviously, for Skyward Sword ahead, this essentially being a sequel.**

**I took some healthy liberties with lore to keep myself sane. Nothing too major unless you feel like citing lore word for word and telling me where I fell short. Don’t worry, I have the fancy books and everything. I know what I’ve done. Hopefully you won’t be able to tell the difference. It isn’t much that I’ve changed, after all. Basically I’ve specified the vagueness given in canon (at least I hope).**

**If you want exact numbers, this story begins one year and three months since Demise was defeated. For clarification, mild adult themes means fluff that draws the line before smut and mild language means that the “bad language words” are both mild and few.**

**There are some things I’m nervous about and some things I’m excited about so it looks like it’s business as usual. I hope you read forward with a healthy bit of criticism, maybe a grain of salt, and an open and positive mind. But, most of all, I really hope you all enjoy it!**

* * *

This is a tale that you humans have passed down through uncounted generations. It tells of a war of unmatched scale and ferocity, the likes of which would never be seen again.

One dark, fateful day, the earth cracked wide and malevolent forces rushed forth from the fissure. They mounted a brutal assault upon the surface people, driving the land into deep despair. They burnt forests to ash, choked the land’s sweet springs, and murdered without hesitation. They did this all in their lust to take the ultimate power protected by Her Grace, the goddess.

The power she guarded was without equal.

Handed down by gods of old, this power gave its holder the means to make any desire a reality. Such was the might of the ultimate power that the old ones placed it in the care of the goddess. To prevent this great power from falling into the hands of evil swarming the lands, the goddess gathered the surviving humans on an outcropping of earth. She sent it skyward, beyond the reach of the demonic hordes. Beyond even the clouds.

With the humans safe, the goddess joined forces with the land dwellers and fought the evil forces, sealing them away. At last, peace was restored to the surface, but only for a time.

After thousands of years, the seal broke, the war reigniting upon the recovering land. The goddess, reborn as a mortal and rejoined with her chosen hero, defeated the great evil and brought a new peace to the land. This land was named Hyrule, as its’ denizens were to be of Hylia’s rule. To her they owed their peace and by her, they hoped to maintain it.

The ancient power shone brightly upon this golden land from the goddess’ hands, as an offering to her people. However, her incarnate and her trusted knew of the shadow it could cast upon the hearts of their kind. Thus, the great power was hidden beneath the goddess’ statue, so that mortals would not be tempted, and could live in peace.

* * *

The pall of silence that hung over the temple was deafening as it echoed in her ears.

She could barely hear the wisp of the wind, the calm breeze that teased a chill.

Her eyes darted from one unfocused glance to another in her panic. She didn’t know what to do as it all settled upon her, like it was some unsettling jolt coursing through her.

Rushing out of the temple was an instinct, as if she could run away from the truth.

But now it daunted before her.

Quite literally, she figured, Zelda hugging her arms close as she gazed upon the statue of the goddess Hylia.

Her temporary deafness subsided slowly as she did, Zelda hearing familiar boots stop in a scuffle behind her.

“A year,” she started, “an entire year.”

She heard a sigh behind her, the same breath voicing,

“I know.”

“How is this possible?” Zelda asked as she turned around to face Link. “Over a year of research and…nothing?”

Link hung his head sorrowfully, like he was mourning the blow they had received to their hope. He didn’t like seeing Zelda like this, seeing Groose like this, they put so much into all of it.

“I…I just,” Zelda started, Link popping his head back up. “I don’t understand how they could…just…vanish without a trace…”

Zelda’s gaze was distant, her thoughts, as a matter of fact, in a different time entirely.

Yet she pulled herself out of it when she noticed Link’s expression, his brow furrowed in contemplation, his eyes conveying a particular fear.

“Link?” Zelda prompted cautiously, Link’s eyes hesitantly trailing to hers and then away, “What is it?”

“N-nothing,” he said nervously, backing away slightly.

“No,” Zelda insisted. “You have something on your mind, I can tell.”

Link sighed, closing his eyes and opening them to lock them strongly with hers.

“I didn’t want to say anything but,” Link started. “Recently, I…I’ve been thinking.”

Zelda’s gaze didn’t move, focused intently on his next words, her brow on the brink of furrowing.

“Maybe we can’t find anything about Impa’s tribe because…they don’t want to be found.”

Zelda couldn’t believe what she was hearing as her eyebrows folded and knitted.

“Or…”

Link averted his glance.

“Or maybe we can’t find anything because…there’s nothing to be found.”

Zelda shook her head, backing away in disbelief, searching desperately within her mind for some rebuttal.

“The…the Gorons…we could ask them again…track them down…or…the Kikwis…the Parellas…the Mogmas…the Robots…the dragons!”

“You know we’ve asked them, Zel, and we’ve looked for the dragons already…even Levias has disappeared.”

Zelda bowed her head in submittance, acceptance of what Groose was surely punching a wall about at this very moment.

“The texts from Skyloft that we’ve been researching,” Link said, with a courageous logic that Zelda was trying not to let get to her. “Well, they’re primarily about Hylia and the Hylians. Maybe Impa’s tribe wasn’t as involved with our race as we thought.”

“But they were there, fighting by our side…they…they can’t have…”

“They might have,” Link said in reply to her insinuation.

Zelda wrapped her arms around Link, seeking comfort and finding it quickly when Link wrapped his arms around her.

“You blame yourself, don’t you?” he asked.

“It was my war they were fighting, if they all died for it…”

Link didn’t know what to say, how to truly console her, only holding her tighter.

He didn’t have the answers she was seeking, and he wished he did. Why Impa suddenly disappeared at the end of their journey in a stream of shimmering lights, where her tribe was in the goddess’ time, where her tribe was now. For the past year, they had poured over each and every book in Skyloft’s library, Groose, Zelda, and Link grateful when Karane and Pipit would come down to the surface and help them out. They had all kept plenty busy, Link and Zelda mapping out Hyrule on the side and Groose constructing houses up in the Northern fields.

And, yet, they found nothing. Over a year reading book, after text, after inscription, and they found nothing on Impa’s tribe. It was turning into quite the legend.

“Look, Zel, we shouldn’t give up hope just yet. There are still some texts we couldn’t translate. Maybe…maybe we can try to find the dragons again.”

“Really?” Zelda said, only loosening her grip on Link enough to look at his face.

“On one condition,” Link said with a knowing smile. “That you go one day without worrying about any of this. Tomorrow seems nice.”

Zelda let out a small laugh.

“Yes, tomorrow seems nice.”

She brought a hand to his cheek, stepping forward with a soft smile. Link’s hand brushed her wrist until he held it gently, his head lightly pressing into her hand with closed eyes and a smile.

Two years since she fell in love with him, over a year since he saved her, three months since he proposed.

But the warmth she felt didn’t change.


	2. A Little Talk

"Are you nervous?" she heard a voice ask, Zelda turning her head to see Karane entering the tent.

"Not really, actually," Zelda replied with a smile.

"Link is," Karane said as she approached Zelda, her eyes perking up at the mention of his name.

"He is?" Zelda said, in her voice a certain adoration.

"Oh yeah," Karane said in reply.

"I'm gonna go talk to him," she stood up, heading for the exit. "He pro-"

But Karane had put a hand to Zelda's shoulder, stopping the girl dressed in white completely.

Her dress was slightly different than the one she had worn as a goddess. Made for a summer wedding, it had short sleeves, but still holes near the collarbone that resembled the shape of Hylia's symbol. Maybe only slightly fuller at the bottom, the purple bands at her wrists and around the front strands of her hair were quite familiar.

Unlike the goddess' dress, however, the waist was much more flattering, not only fitting the inward bend of her waist perfectly but also designed with long openings on the sides. From the top of her ribs to the beginning of her waist, the horizontal holes ran symmetrically and neatly down either side.

Zelda let out a slow exhale, closing her eyes until the sigh was over.

"I hate this," Zelda remarked, sitting back down in her chair.

"You'll see him soon enough," Karane assured her, pulling up a chair.

Zelda bowed her head, fiddling with her dress in ways she probably shouldn't.

"What was he nervous about?" Zelda asked quietly.

"Being good enough for you, messing up the ceremony," Karane started to list. "Disappointing you, foolish things like that."

Zelda smiled.

"Good," she said, a blush creeping upon her cheeks as she looked up to what seemed like nothing.

"You've chosen quite a dork to love, you know," Karane said.

Zelda couldn't stop smiling.

"I know."

Karane studied Zelda for a second, not her smile but her eyes. There was something in them she couldn't shake, not to mention the way Zelda fiddled with her dress.

"What is it?" Karane asked calmly.

Zelda averted her glance with a shake of her head.

"It's nothing."

"It doesn't seem like nothing."

Zelda sighed.

"It's just his anxiety," Zelda said, meeting Karane's eyes. "Not about this, of course, but about…other things. He's getting better, but…at the same time…he's not."

"His trauma?" Karane prompted. "Right?"

Zelda nodded.

"But it's more subtle than it used to be," Zelda continued. "He's gotten past what I can help him with, the nightmares, the hallucinations, the panic attacks, the things I can soothe him through. Well, at least it seems like he's gotten past it. Now, it's…the way he worries about things, assumes the worst…keeps them inside. I mean, it's been a over a year since everything settled. I guess this is just the next step."

"What did he say about it?" Inquired Karane.

"He just shakes it off, saying he'll deal with it later, or he feels fine, or it's not that big of a deal."

"But it is to you," Karane ascertained.

"I'm worried about him," Zelda started. "I love him more than anything, but he…"

Zelda's voice had broken, her eyes starting to water.

"Oh goddesses," she said, trying to tilt her head up so to ward the tears away. "I'm a wreck."

"It's okay to be a wreck sometimes," Karane said. "And you two will get through this, I know you will."

Zelda nodded.

"I'm not really sure what worse could happen to us," she said with a slight chuckle. "We've already been through so much. Even this wedding feels like a formality compared to how much we've already depended on each other. The anxiety will wear off in time, I'm sure. Our love will carry us through."

"If you believe that, then surely it will," Karane said before jokingly continuing. "If it carried you through these past few months it can survive anything."

"Oh gosh," Zelda said in reply. "It's about time the engagement period ended. When he proposed to me one our one-year anniversary I wanted to marry him right then and there."

"You really didn't see it coming?" Karane retorted with a smile. "The way he looked at you when I married Pipit and you caught my bouquet…I wasn't at all surprised when you came to me with a ring on your finger the next week."

Zelda let out a chuckle.

"That makes one of us."

"Can I come in?" A voice asked outside the tent.

"Yes, of course," Zelda said as she stood up and smoothed out her dress, facing the entrance. Karane followed suit.

Zelda's father ducked his head slightly as he pushed aside the flaps to let himself in.

But when he looked back up he immediately started to tear up.

Zelda put her hands on her hips.

"Now what did I say about crying?"

"That your father can do whatever he wants because he taught you to respect your elders."

Zelda shook her head with a smile.

"Not exactly, but sure," she said before walking forward and hugging him.

"Now I just came from Link's tent and…"

"Oh no," Zelda said, releasing from the hug. "What did you tell him? Don't tell me you scared him away."

"Nothing of the sort," he said. "Just that he's not allowed to ever touch you or look at you…"

Zelda leveled him with a glare, knowing he was joking.

"Oh you wanted him to look at you?" He continued, teasing her. "Huh."

"What did you actually tell him?"

"Normal things, don't worry," he said. "To respect you and to love you and that if he hurts you, I'll kill him myself."

"He's not going to hurt me," Zelda said.

Her father moved to her side, offering his bent arm.

"I know," he replied.


	3. The Bond of Love

**Author's Note: I can't think of a fic I've written that didn't start as a one-shot and, as it happens, the first section of this chapter is where this whole project started.**

**Just a fun fact, don't mind me.**

* * *

It wasn't uncommon in Skyloft for knights to marry upon graduating. Not only were they considered adults by that point, but the danger in being a knight was well known. Even the best trained knights had been known to fall to their deaths or get killed by monsters that inhabited the skies. Thus, the tradition became well-ingrained and quite normal. Not in any way rushed, of course, but celebrated when it came to pass.

This one in particular had been greatly expected among Skyloftians. Although the couple chose moving to the mysterious Surface over completing their training at the Knight Academy, the pairing was quite popular to obsess over, even more so than the knights Karane and Pipit a few months back.

So they all smiled as the sun shone with a beautiful splendor, streams of light glittering and shining down from the sun above, as if the golden goddesses themselves couldn't help but express their joy.

Even the gentle breeze, the rustle of the leafy trees, the flowers in bloom that floated petals up to descend upon the pair of Hylians, made the scene so picturesque that the people who sat in watch were just silent in awe.

It truly was the most beautiful anyone had seen the base of the statue of the goddess, a warm smile shared by all at the union taking place.

Link clasped his hands into hers, after spending the last few minutes completely mesmerized by her beauty as she stood there with a smile, her blue eyes shining with the sunlight.

They stood before Hylia, who towered over them in her magnificence, her authority. Only a few knew that Hylia also stood before Link, in a way. To him, she not only outshined her likeness, but even the sun that streamed down upon her.

"Welcome all," started Instructor Owlan, the officiator of the ceremony. "We are gathered here, under the statue of our goddess Hylia, to join two of her people and bind them as one."

He looked between them proudly and silently before handling a folded cloth in offering.

"By their choice," he said as he gently loosened the fabric and draped it over their clasped hands, wrapping it around, "no force, nor coercion, they have chosen this path of love, as mutually as they will grow to depend on the other. Their promises will secure their love, much like this fabric, not trapping it, not choking it, but protecting and ensuring it."

Owlan took a step back, the cloth secured.

"When you are ready," he said with a nod to Link, who nodded back.

"Zelda," Link started, looking into her eyes. "There were times where it felt like an eternity until I got to see you again, and there were times I feared I never would. There were so many things that pushed us apart on that fateful journey that it was hard for me to believe in hope, to believe in anything. I knew well that it would be so much easier to give up, to stay in Skyloft, and to forget you, but that was never an option. I've known from the very beginning, Zelda, that I would always remember you, and I've known for a while now that you are my soulmate, that you hold my heart in a way no one else could. It wasn't until I summoned the courage to love you that I realized that the love we share is our forever, our infinite bond. That no matter what happens, it will always be my deepest truth. So, I promise to you that which I have always wanted, to make you happy, as long as our forever."

Link smiled and Zelda's cheeks had grown to a deep blush, yet she either didn't notice, or disregarded it, starting her own vows in his silence.

"Link, we both know that our future spells a different path than many others, that our destinies are built upon the goddess' eternal wish. In that way, our future beyond our years is cloudy and uncertain, much like the future of Hyrule, at this very moment. But the forever instead, what will bind us beyond that, is the love we share. If Hyrule becomes a kingdom, I will be your Princess, your Queen, but beyond that I promise to be your Zelda, forever and always. From now until eternity I promise to love you. If forever is possible, than I know you are mine."

The two shared warm expressions as their eyes started to water, only tears of happiness escaping them.

"The people of Skyloft," continued Owlan, taking a step forward. "Proud of perseverance, who revel in hope and aim to always be the best of themselves, have always had within themselves the celebration of three unbreakable bonds."

The couple looked down as he took the rim of the fabric closest to him, gently lifting it and offering his hand towards the first hewn intricacy. A pair of Loftwings, wings outstretched. They faced each other, as if paralleled along a single line, the only difference being the variation in color, one crimson and one a bluish purple.

"A bond of friendship, with our Loftwings and with our fellow kin, paired by joyous spirits and laughter, paired by loyalty, and paired by generosity."

He unfurled the fabric with a slight tug, the gold-rimmed fabric starting to slide along their fingers until another symbol came into sight, held atop their hands. This one was completely red, Owlan offering his hand in presentation to the red swirls and curves that conjoined to make a circle.

"A familial bond, strengthened by blood and heightened by a kind touch and a soft hand."

He continued to unfurl it, the excess folding neatly in his hands until only the very end of the fabric rested atop Link and Zelda's held hands. The last symbol was a heart, with green vines encircling it. Like the heart flowers that grew in plenty in Skyloft, it was meant to grow and to blossom, not a stagnant emotion, but something ever-changing and ever-strong.

"The third we celebrate is the one that binds two souls, and that shares two hearts. The bond of love, wedded in its' presence and conjoined in it forever. It surpasses the formers in celebration, but never excludes them, for all the bonds we share are connected in serene and beautiful ways."

Zelda and Link's hands reformed as the fabric slid completely away, neither caring about the slight sweat in their palms. Owlan had set the fabric aside and stood before them with his hands behind his back.

An apprehensive silence fell as Link and Zelda each looked behind them, their hands detaching finger by finger. Groose and Karane were already offering sliver bands forward. Karane with an elegant and soft smile and Groose with ugly tears in his eyes.

Link tipped his head at the sight, wanting to poke fun before he realized he was also starting to cry. He took the ring with a slight chuckle and returned to face Zelda,

Taking her offered hand, Link slid the ring down the appropriate finger, completely engrossed in her blue eyes. He gave the ring on her finger a light kiss.

"Cheater," she whispered, feigning shock. Link suppressed a laugh.

Zelda took his hand, lifting it up and slowly sliding the ring she held along his finger. Link gave her a look of inquisition, to which Zelda returned with a teasing rejection, her cheeks blushing pink.

Link kept his smile, his full heart as their hands clasped and lowered, them taking a step closer to the other.

"By the witness of the goddess Hylia and in her golden land of Hyrule," Owlan said. "I proclaim the wisdom, courage, and power of this union to be true and honest."

The Instructor beamed a proud smile at the two, knowing well, as much as each person in attendance, how much their love had survived, and how strong it was even now.

"It is my honor to now announce you, Link and Zelda, wedded, under Hylia's soft smile. May her happiness be yours, forever and always!"

Hollers of cheers ensued when Link and Zelda's lips quickly found each other, both their hearts warming with joy and thankfulness.

* * *

They barely noticed the festivities winding down around them, the joyful music and dancing stopped and the guests well-filtered out.

Yet, Link and Zelda sat clueless at their table, maintaining eager conversation with Pipit and Karane. They were caught up in the nostalgia of reminiscence.

"So then Groose comes up to me in a huff," Pipit continued, with that type of smile that could only accompany a joke. "Puffs out his chest."

At this, Pipit did exactly that, trying to impersonate Groose' mannerisms as best he could.

"And he says," Pipit deepened his voice to continue. "Get a load of that, huh. My best moves and nothing."

The others laughed at the accuracy, the satire of it all.

"But then I replied, 'It's not you Groose, she likes Link'. Goddesses, you should have seen his face."

"So," Link said humorously with a pointed finger. "You're the reason he started beating up on me."

"Yep," Pipit said as they exchanged fits of laughter.

"If those were Groose' best moves, he's hopeless," Zelda chimed before looking over to Link. "I mean, the absolute worst pick up lines."

"I'm not so sure about that," Karane said.

"What do you mean?" Zelda inquired.

"Well, his pickup lines may have been bad back then, but your 'best man' left with Orielle quite a while ago."

Zelda raised her eyebrows in surprise, looking around and behind her, Link doing the same.

"Huh," Link retorted. "I guess he is gone."

"I didn't even notice," Zelda added. "In fact, most of our guests are gone too."

Link looked around to see that she was right. Instructor Owlan and Headmaster Gaepora were talking at a table a bit away and there were only a few other smatterings of conversations.

Most people, however, had left.

"I suppose it is getting late," Link said with a glance at the night sky. He looked back to Pipit and Karane. "You guys don't have to stay."

"Actually, um," Pipit started with a nervous chuckle, taking Karane's hand. "We actually wanted to talk to you about that."

Pipit and Karane's grip tightened as Link and Zelda tipped their heads in curiosity.

"We want to move down to the Surface," Pipit said, Zelda's smile growing. "To Hyrule…and we were wondering…if it's safe down here for children."

"Yeah," Link said as him and Zelda shared the same look of agreement. "Closed off areas like where we've settled offer plenty of—"

Yet Zelda suddenly squealed, bringing her hands to her mouth.

"Zel, what the…" Link said as he got over the sudden noise.

Karane nodded quickly in response to Zelda's anticipatory gaze.

Link was bewildered as Zelda practically jumped up from her chair to embrace Karane, Pipit smiling at the exchange.

"Did I miss something?" Link asked.

"Link," Zelda said as she let go of Karane. "Karane is pregnant."

"Oh!" he said as he stood up. "Congratulations."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Zelda asked.

"Well, you've been so busy recently," Karane reasoned. "And then you guys were engaged, we didn't want to overshadow the big things happening in your life."

"Nonsense," Zelda said. "Besides, you're moving down to the Surface, we're in this together now."


	4. Alarm

Link woke up with slow blinks of his eyes, the sunlight casting bright rays on his face. It felt like they were only meant for him, to blind him or sting his eyes, to wake him up.

He turned to his side in his tired frustration, away from the annoyingly bright sunlight. He barely even thought about it as his arm rested around Zelda's waist, pulling her close.

He felt as if he could stay here forever, in this moment and beyond. With a warmth in his chest and a happiness in his heart, he was satisfied. It seemed that all he would ever need was to hold her, safe in his arms.

Link closed his eyes at the thought, slow, restful breaths returning.

Yet, he started to feel a tickle on his hand, subtle until it grew. It was like some insect was running across it until it was like a gentle touch.

He furrowed his brow as it grew to a sting, a burn.

Link opened his eyes and looked at his hand as it met his eyeline. His tired eyes squinted at the harsh light beaming from his hand.

Yet, once it settled, Link running his thumb across the back of his hand, he sat straight up in a panic at what he saw.

His heart immediately started beating faster and faster, his nerves running every which way.

The Triforce of Wisdom, that once adorned his hand, was completely gone, leaving the Triforce of Courage alone.

He'd never even told Zelda about losing the Triforce of Power last year.

Honestly, it scared him. Their future was uncertain enough, and the implication of him not having that particular triangle on his hand after his fight with Demise worried him greatly.

What was he supposed to do now? Tell her, of course. That was the answer that popped up as an instinct.

But why would it go away now?

His hand dropped to his lap as he tried to figure it out, what he may have done differently.

Well, last night was certainly different.

Was that it?

How embarrassing that the goddesses deemed last night 'unwise'. Were the goddesses really that involved? That critical of his actions?

That just didn't seem right.

He looked back down at his hand, a lone triangle shining until it faded back to a normal mark.

What was going on?

"Link?"

At the prompt, he looked to her, Zelda flipping her head to face him.

"What are you doing?" She said sleepily, a soft smile on her lips as her eyelids feathered closed.

Maybe telling her later would be best.

He leaned down and whispered,

"Go back to sleep, my goddess," before kissing her bang-swept forehead.

Zelda reassumed restful breaths as Link's smile faded, looking at the back of his hand.

Of course they were just symbols, representations. The actual Triforce was under the statue of the goddess Hylia.

But Link couldn't help being disconcerted.

He tried not to let worry overcome him, standing up, getting dressed, leaving the house into the bright, calm morning.

Again, that bright sun greeted him, glaring upon him as he squinted his eyes.

"Look who's finally awake," he heard Groose say.

Link's eyes blinked away the sunlight to see the knight before him, carrying a plank of wood as he passed by the house.

"Yeah," Link said. "Slept in."

"How did it go last night?" Groose asked, having stopped to make conversation.

"Excuse me?" Link retorted

Groose let out a small laugh.

"No," he said with a chuckle. "I meant the festivities. Sorry I missed most of it."

"Oh," Link replied. "No, that's fine."

"Are you guys leaving today?" Groose asked.

"Not sure how I could avoid it," Link mused. "The only person as eager for answers is you. You're still more than welcome to come with us, by the way."

"On your honeymoon?" Groose retorted, an eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"I would hardly call a research expedition a honeymoon," Link said.

"You two would be disgusting lovebirds either way," Groose said. "I'd rather stay here impatiently awaiting your return. Besides, I've got a house to build for Karane and Pipit."

Suddenly Link felt a weight on his shoulders, two hands gripping as Zelda jumped excitedly behind him.

Link turned his head with a smile.

"Hi," he said, his eyes melting into hers before they kissed, Zelda arms resting around his neck.

"Hi," Zelda said out of the kiss.

"And on that note," Groose said as he started to stroll away to where he was headed in the first place.

They both looked to him as he walked away, their smiles growing to a chuckle.

"Did you ask him if he wants to come?" Zelda asked, Link turning his head back to look at her.

"I think he doesn't want to intrude on our time," Link reasoned. "Which is fair, but…I know deep down he wants to know what happened to Impa."

"Well, that's why we're going," Zelda said excitedly. "To find the answers."

"I wish I had your confidence," Link said jokingly, Zelda's good mood and bright smile making him forget all his worries.

"Everything will be fine, Link," Zelda said. "Things are going to work out this time, I can feel it. Now call your Loftwing. We can start with Levias."

Link tried to contain his laugh, it coming out as a snort.

"What?" Zelda inquired with a smile, searching him for the basis of the hilarity.

He came in closer with a hushed volume.

"You're all ready to go with nothing but my shirt on," he said. She could hear the smile in his voice.

Zelda looked down and he was right, his white shirt from the wedding was slightly baggy on her. She had almost forgotten that she had hastily grabbed it on the way out the door to cover herself.

"All right," she said, looking at his eyes. "I'll get dressed in proper clothes while you call your Loftwing and pretend you're not thinking about me. Do you even remember how to call your Loftwing?"

"It hasn't been that long," Link argued.

Zelda started a walk to the house with a slight skip.

"I'm not that dumb!" He called after her.

Zelda spun around, now walking backwards with a smile.

"Just the appropriate amount," Zelda said before turning towards the house and closing the door behind her.

Link was completely smitten, standing there reveling in the warmth in his heart before he remembered the task she gave him.

* * *

The two flew on their respective Loftwings in silence, like they had many times before.

Yet now they had a purpose, a direction, a place to go. When they were kids it was aimless, wandering through the clouds and marveling at the size of the skies beyond their Skyloft.

Their world was bigger now, bigger than the Knight Academy, bigger than Skyloft, bigger than the winds above the cloud barrier.

There was no barrier anymore.

Hyrule was their world now, and the skies above it were just a small part of it.

"Are you sure this is where it was?" Zelda asked. "Levias' home?"

Link looked at Skyloft, the distance, the silhouette.

He nodded and Zelda sighed in response.

She sat up slightly on her Loftwing, looking up above her for anything and nothing all at once.

"I can take it," she said, not moving her head. "I know you want to say something."

"I want to find the answers too, but," Link started. "For argument's sake…they served their purpose. Levias, the dragons…Impa…"

Zelda looked to him quickly.

"She lived a long time," Link reasoned.

"She _lived_ her entire life in my service," Zelda argued. "That's not a purpose I can condone."

"But you did," Link said.

"As a goddess, I knew nothing of mortality and its' shortcomings," reasoned Zelda. "That is a mistake that I have to make up for, and that…"

Her intended words faltered.

"I…I'm not even entirely sure what happened, Link," Zelda said, her words starting to quicken in their panic. "I can't just sit back and let it fall into the past, it…"

"Hey," Link said slowly and calmly, trying to satiate her rising frustration. "I understand and I made a promise to help you. I don't know what we'll find, but it will be as much as we can, okay?"

Zelda blinked a couple times before nodding.

"If you want, we can head to Faron next," Link said. "I just want to make a stop first."


	5. An Old Friend

"I'll just be a few minutes," Link said, looking upon the stone doors, still a twinge of fear at their mystery.

Zelda squeezed the hand of his she held.

"Take all the time you need," she said, Link nodding in reply.

She backed away as he pushed the door open, them sliding with a great screech.

The Sealed Temple looked exactly as it had when Link first laid eyes on it, the sunlight streaming through, the moss covered walls revealing its' age and decay.

Except now as he walked slowly, there was a luscious tree in the room on the left side, somehow growing even bigger with no care whatsoever.

He started heading up the stairs, holding his breath until he saw it.

Link let out an exhale as his eyes searched it, its glimmer and sheen in the sunlight, the purple-tinted hilt, the wing-like cross, the diamond in the center, the emblem of the full Triforce.

Why did he expect it to be any different?

Link knelt down before the Master Sword, bowing his head. A hand placed on each leg, he kept his respectful and lamenting silence. Link closed his eyes as the comfort of her friendship swelled back, the console of her counsel.

Without even an uttering of her voice or a chime of her anticipation, Link knew she was here. Put to rest, there was no denial of that truth, but ever-present in the way he felt his formality slip away.

"Fi," he finally said, keeping his head bowed.

Link give a sigh, opening his eyes blankly.

"Do you remember when I used to say that with conviction? With a tone of inquiry? Standing before some puzzling thing or in some battle with the odds against me. Sometimes just saying your name gave me solace, eased me of my worries…I guess that's why it doesn't work anymore, why saying your name no longer consoles me. It's because it isn't accompanied by your guidance."

Link looked up at the sword.

"What I wouldn't give for you to tell me what to do next," continued Link, "or explain what things mean. I'd even take an estimation of my chances at survival, however high they are now. I wish I'd asked you more about Impa's tribe…I didn't even think to. I wish you could tell me why the Triforce is disappearing from my hand so I don't…fear it so much. But, most of all, I wish you could tell me that everything is going to be okay."

Link stood up with a sigh.

"But I guess that's a part of growing up, huh? Not having guidance, not being told and reassured every step of the way. I guess I took all that for granted."

Link looked up, to the distance past the sword, to the lush greenery in the room beyond it.

"Then again, I suppose there aren't many places I could go where I could forget your guidance, forget…how much more you were than just a sword…"

Suddenly there was a shuffle heard behind him, Link looking quickly to an empty temple.

He peered his gaze around, eyeing the pedestal that once led to the Gate of Time, the column that Ghirahim once slinked around with a malicious grin.

"Is someone there?" He asked with a step forward.

He unsheathed his sword and stepped down the stairs. A wedding present, as a matter of fact, from the blacksmith Gondo himself. Made from metals that the robot Skipper begrudgingly collected from the surface, Link was told it enhanced Skyloft's standard practice sword greatly. Now given a white sheen, the emerald-encrusted white hilt contrasted the fact that it felt much like the Master Sword in weight, length, and sharpness. Link figured Gonzo meant it that way, but even then, this sword seemed a bit sharper.

The temple seemed completely empty as Link walked through it, emerald gems catching the sunlight as he strode across.

It was just as empty as before, the only people he saw here the ones he recalled in his memories, Impa, Fi, Ghirahim, Groose, Zelda.

Link soon shook off the bad feeling he had, almost hearing Groose in his head making fun of Link "jumping at shadows".

He returned his sword to its' sheath, a dark green casing that was very nearly black.

Link gave the temple one last lingering look of confusion before he headed back to the doors that led to Faron Woods.


	6. Courage

Zelda reached for Link's hand as they emerged unto the clearing.

They both stopped for the same reason, a warm smile at how the sunlight glimmered on the waterfalls, how the entrance to the Ancient Cistern beckoned them with its' golden light.

"You proposed here," Zelda said.

"I remember," Link said, squeezing her hand.

They continued their walk, turning a corner to enter to chamber of the dragon Faron.

There wasn't a shade of blue not in sight, each one hue with it's own purpose, as if part of some great design.

The Parellas below the surface of the water stared right back at pair with curious and watching eyes. They didn't utter a word either, nor gave an attempt to greet them. Only the subtle sounds of water were heard as Link and Zelda stopped just before the edge of the platform.

They looked at the empty space that once knew the water dragon well, slowly coming to terms with the fact that the dragon was indeed absent.

"Faron," Zelda said, her voice echoing loudly around the azure-shaded cavern. "This is your goddess, Hylia. Come before me one last time if it so befits you. I offer only my pleas."

They watched and waited until Zelda bowed her head.

"It's no use," she said, detaching her hand from Link's and starting to head out.

"Are you sure there's nothing else you can say?" Link asked, not following her pacing out.

"I'm Hylia's incarnate," Zelda said, meeting Link's gaze. "If I can't summon them, then no one ca—"

Zelda was interrupted by a large splash, both looking to the chamber with hopeful eyes.

Faron suddenly burst forth from the surface of the water, as alive as ever and as intimidatingly large as Link remembered.

Zelda rushed forward, sharing a joyous look with Link before her hands clasped at her chest. Zelda's soft smile was the first thing Faron saw when she opened her eyes, settling them upon the two mortals.

"You two copulated," Faron stated abruptly.

"Copu-what?" Link retorted in reply with raised eyebrows.

With a smile Zelda whispered something in his ear, Link's face reddening.

"How dare you soil the vessel of the goddess in such a manner," the dragon said.

"Hey," Link started with a pointed finger. "I don't think—"

But a calm touch on his shoulder stopped him. He and Zelda shared a look of trust before she looked back to the dragon.

"Link and I are now bonded by a vow," she started. "Please excuse his impoliteness. He only wishes to keep our relationship between us."

"Y-yeah," Link stammered looking from Zelda to the dragon. "I apologize. I was out of line."

"Rude as ever, I see," the dragon said, Link trying not to level Faron with a glare. "But I can tell you haven't come for my honesty. In fact, I'm very curious to know the predicament that has our incarnate invoking her privilege as a former goddess. I know that privilege is not taken advantage of lightly."

"No, Faron, it is not," Zelda said, truly slipping into the formality that Link had already accepted was impossible for him, no matter how much Zelda would try to help him for situations like this. "Do you know of Impa? The woman assigned to protect me?"

"Yes," Faron replied. "Why do you ask?"

"When she was with me, she mentioned she hailed from a tribe, and that her tribe fought alongside the Hylians against Demise. Can you tell me anything of their fate?"

"Their fate, Your Grace, is the same as yours," said Faron. "They were born, they lived, and they died. Quite a long time ago, as a matter of fact."

Zelda stepped forward, eager as ever.

"A-all of them?"

"That tribe existed during the time of the goddess," Faron explained. "If they lived in moments beyond that, I have no knowledge of it, nor would I expect to."

"What do you mean you wouldn't expect to?"

"I never knew much about where Impa's tribe resided, only that they were not in these woods. Hylia enlisted their aid for her war elsewhere. It can be assumed that their absence now means that they did not survive it."

Zelda let out a sharp exhale.

They knew that, both of them. That was, after all, where their logic led them.

But to hear it aloud, by a dragon deity no less…

"So that's all that matters," Zelda started. Link could hear the growing agitation in her voice. "They died and you harbor no regret for that sacrifice? Lives were lost!"

"Zelda—" Link tried.

"Your Grace…you are dwelling on matters that occurred thousands of years ago. They no longer matter."

"There has to be more!" Zelda exclaimed. "They can't have all just died, and…and how can you write off their deaths so easily! It's not right!"

Faron leaned forward, as if she were peering directly into Zelda's soul, the way she craned her neck and directed her eyes.

"You once thought as I did, Hylia," Faron said. "That sacrifice to achieve peace is justified. In fact, I don't see how this is any different from how you once took advantage of your husband there. You two now live facing the future and yet you can't get over the past. Maybe it's time you asked yourself why."

Zelda furrowed her brow, steaming with anger until she stormed off.

Link watched her leave before turning to do the same.

Yet he stopped himself, turning back around to Faron's surprise.

"Where were the dragons all this time?" He asked, his forehead creasing.

"Does it look like I'm chained to this chamber? Foolish boy."

Link felt anger rise within him as well.

"You would do well to practice the politeness you expect," Link said sharply, trying to keep his anger at bay. "I apologize for my bluntness, but at my wife's distress, I must indulge it. We seek answers because we do not have them, because our history has a hole, and if we are not careful to fill it, we may repeat it. In fact, we already have, to an extent."

Faron kept her silence as Link walked off.

"The answers you seek," Faron started, stopping Link where he stood at the exit. "The other dragons will know them better than I. Because of Hylia's bequest, they have returned, I have no doubt. Even from here, I can feel their presence."

"She'll be happy to hear that," Link said, not turning.

"I am sorry," she said, only able to see that Link's head perked up in surprise. "Lofty notions make us dragons superior in might and power, but ever lesser in what makes Hylians unique. Simple things like politeness are easy to forget. I shall try, as you have, to learn it again."

Link nodded.

"I do not particularly enjoy the idea of our goddess' marriage to another. But since it had to be someone, I will acknowledge that I'm glad it was you."

Link turned back around with a furrowed brow, but the dragon was gone, disappeared.

"Had to be someone," he repeated quietly to himself.

His eyes searched nothing as he considered her words before he departed from the chamber.

Back into the clearing he went, looking from right to left with an increasing panic.

"Zelda," he said, his breathing quickening.

"Zelda!" He exclaimed in his panic, running to the center and turning himself to look all around.

She just wasn't here, Link realizing with unsteadied breaths.

He ran blindly to the entrance to Faron Woods, not even looking as he turned a corner and bumped straight into someone.

With closed eyes he took a step back and massaged his forehead, a slight wince in his expression.

"Did you think I went missing again?"

He could practically hear her smile.

"Yep."

"You have to remember to…"

"Watch where I'm going," Link finished with a few nods of his head. "I know."

He opened his eyes with a sigh, his arm hanging back at his side.

"Are you okay?" He said with concern before his eyes trailed downward to the very reason she was standing still.

"Hi," Link said to the small Kikwi.

"You remember Machi," Zelda said. "He was just telling me about the Kikwi elder."

"He finally came down from the top of the tree," Machi said, bounding up and down with excited hops. "We're holding a celebration to mark the occasion. Would you two like to come?"

Link chuckled nervously before saying,

"No, thank you," politely declining. "We have other matters to attend to."

The Kikwi deflated in his sadness.

"Oh."

"We'll be sure to visit sometime soon, okay?" Zelda assured him.

"Okay," he said in reply. "Goodbye goddess, Mr. Hero."

The pair watched him waddle off before turning to each other.

"Are you okay?"

"Link, you've bumped into me before, I'm used to it by now."

"No, no I meant…the dragon…"

Zelda gave a sigh.

"I have to know the truth, some…proof, some…s-something…"

"Hey," he said calmly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have convince me. We're in this together."

Zelda nodded.

"Thank you," she said. "But Link, I…what she said about living in the past…sacrificing our future for chasing ghosts…if that's the cost…"

"Zel, we're eighteen years old," Link said with a slight smile. "What we've lived is barely a fraction of the time we have left. I'm not worried at all about losing that, especially since I believe that finding these answers are a part of our future."

Zelda nodded.

"You stayed longer," she prompted. "Did you learn anything else?"

"She said that the other dragons are back. They responded to you invoking the goddess' name like you hadn't before. She thinks they will know more about Impa's tribe than her."

Zelda quickly pulled out the map from the pack strapped to her shoulders, spreading it out on the ground and kneeling before it.

Link did the same, crouching next to her as they both studied it.

It wasn't near complete, nearly everything but Lanayru, Faron and Eldin only rough estimations. Small triangles where Link saw mountains or wavy lines where he saw blue streaks, but it was hard to tell from up in the skies.

In the past year, they had made great strides extending what they knew of the three main regions in traveling by foot when they weren't researching for textual evidence of Impa's tribe. Yet there were still holes as they looked upon Hyrule.

"I recommend landing here," Link said, pointing to the entrance to the Earth Temple. "From there we can ascend to the volcano."

Zelda nodded in understanding as she trailed her hand down the empty expanse below it, furrowing her brow.

"What if we walked?" Zelda asked quietly, as if still deep in thought.

"Excuse me?" Link retorted, looking to her quickly.

"I mean, look at this map," she reasoned. "Bit by bit we've been able to draw more of the Faron region, we even found an ocean at the southern border. We may as well take this opportunity to fill in the area heading North to the volcano."

"I mean, I guess," Link said in reply. "But that would take a couple weeks. I thought you wanted to learn about Impa's tribe as soon as possible?"

Zelda bumped his shoulder with hers.

"Scared of the unknown?" she asked teasingly.

"Of course not," Link said with a smile. "I'm just trying to make sure you realize the patience you'll have to employ."

"I can wait to speak with the other two dragons," Zelda said as she turned her head to Link, a slight laugh in her voice. "Besides, it's only a couple weeks. We might even find clues on our way."

"Always the adventurer," Link said before leaning in and kissing her. A couple seconds of that soulfully deep exchange passed before Link emerged.

"It's so distracting to have a goddess near me all the time," Link said jokingly as he looked to the map, leaning forward and seriously studying the empty trail North. "You know?"

"Oh yes, I know," Zelda replied, leaning into the map as well. "I'm married to this hero who's completely irresistible. You should see his biceps."

Link feigned a gasp, looking to her.

"Not in front of the Kikwi," he joked. "What would they think?"

Zelda shook her head with a laugh. In the best Fi voice she could manage, she said.

"Master, I believe you are losing focus on your primary object."

"Not bad, actually," he said, impressed.

He looked to the map, really studying it this time.

"Yeah, it looks like about two weeks," he said. "If we go around this first mountain range, it should be pretty flat terrain until we get into Eldin. Then I'll probably have us call for our Loftwings to get up the mountain. As far as mapping it out goes, we'll have already reached past what we know by then."

Zelda nodded.

"Sounds good."

"We can leave today if you want," Link continued, still looking at the map as Zelda stood up and brushed herself off. "We can be on our way by the afternoon if we get some more provisions from home now."

"Okay," Zelda said, walking off, Link finally looking up.

"Whoa," he said when he noticed, hastily collecting the map, scurrying to standing, and jogging to catch up with her. "Wait up."


	7. A Sight to Behold

"Link! Come look at this!"

They were halfway to Eldin, Link making camp and not even noticing that Zelda was up a small hill until she called to him.

"What is it?"

"Just come see."

"All right."

It wasn't long before he joined her, peering out at the distant horizon. Hyrule was vast, sure, a beautiful type of vast that took away breaths and stalled hearts. But, it was a vast they had seen all week. Link saw nothing significant.

Zelda was looking at him expectantly.

"You don't see it?"

"What?"

Zelda put an arm around him and pointed to a foggy mountain range in the distance.

"Look at my finger," Zelda prompted. "You see that mountain? Look closely."

"Zel, I don't…wait…there's a light," he said, narrowing his eyes. "A white light. What is that?"

"I have no idea," Zelda said, dropping her hand. "I love having no idea."

Link looked to her and smiled, kissing her cheek. He started to head back down the small hill.

"Do you think it's dangerous?" He asked, not knowing that Zelda was following him.

"There is no true danger in mystery, only the one our fear creates."

"Fancy way of telling me I worry too much," Link said, sitting at the campfire and looking to Zelda, who was now approaching.

As if by some instinct, no word or warning to prompt it, Link laid on his back, Zelda laying right next him and letting his arm curl to pull her closer.

Her neck was in the crook of his shoulder as they lay gazing at the stars above. Foreign insects and critters sounding around them may have caused uncertainty, but in each other's arms they readily pushed that fear away. Zelda's arm hugged Link's stomach as they breathed together, the wild nature of Hyrule calming them.

"Zelda?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Zelda smiled.

"I love you, too."

Their calm breaths returned, their gazes on the glowing dots above them as they thought of the other, the strength in their dependence. It was only when their thoughts strayed that their fear returned, when they started to think independently, forgetting support and fearing the loss of it, when it would waver. They thought of how much they didn't want to lose, what could possibly take it from them.

"I didn't like it, you know," Zelda said.

"You didn't like what?" Asked Link.

"Using Hylia's name," Zelda clarified. "Using it to take advantage of people. I never wanted to do that again."

"Then why did you?"

"Because it was easy."

Link sighed.

"We tried to find answers the hard way," he argued. "Maybe this is just the way it had be done."

"Yeah…" Zelda started. "But that doesn't make it right."

"No, no it doesn't," Link agreed. "But that's why we're here. To learn and get better."

"But if we make a mistake in the process of rectifying it, then…have we really learned anything? I mean I talk about how wrong it was that Impa's tribe lost lives on my account, but now that the dragons are back for the same reason…it just feels too familiar to say that I've changed, gotten any better."

"I think you're not giving enough credit to the effort of trying, Zel," Link said. "You called the dragons back because you wanted clarification on the past. Until that happens, we might have to do everything we can. I don't like the cost of that either, but as long as were careful not to do it lightly, we can learn from it."

"I suppose," Zelda said before letting out a sigh.

"Sometimes I don't understand her," she continued, "Hylia."

"It's like you said," Link put forth. "She didn't understand mortality. Now that she, in essence, is starting to through you…I don't know…maybe it's like she's changing too. Maybe it's another reason why she did what she did. Other than using the Triforce to save Hyrule, maybe she wanted to understand. Maybe she grew tired of immortality."

Zelda smiled and closed her eyes, feeling her fatigue.

"No wonder you have the Triforce of Wisdom," she said.

Link felt his face pale completely. It felt as if color washed from his entire body, heat, warmth, comfort.

No, he didn't have it.

And he had completely forgotten.

"Y-yeah," he said shakily.

He looked down at the top of her head, her sleeping frame. Link told himself again that he could put off worrying about it.

That was, after all, the easier option.


	8. Power

Their feet plopped down as they slid off their Loftwings, bidding them a soothing goodbye before they returned to the skies.

Link and Zelda's eyes met, Link approaching her as he started to fiddle with his left ear.

"I'm going to give you one of my earrings," he said, the earring detaching and sliding into his grip. "Without at least one you'll burn to a crisp in the volcano ahead."

"Thanks," Zelda said as Link put the earring though the hole in her ear, Zelda blushing at the way his hand accidentally tickled her chin.

Link chuckled. The earring was on, but he reformed his hand to caress her cheek.

"Of course," Link said, a depth in his blue eyes that Zelda loved to swim in. It cleansed her, refreshed her until she realized she was drowning in them.

"Uhm," she said with a shake of her head. "We…w-we were."

"Going! Right," Link said, apparent that he was also distracted.

His hand slid down her arm until it reached her fingers, entangling them.

They both walked along across the wooden bridge that was once a tower, across the chasm of lava that would bring death quickly.

They tried not to look down before they entered a cavern, several straggling Keese flying towards them.

Without even a thought towards the instinct, Link slashed them one by one with his sword, Zelda rejoining her hand with his without a word. It looked like a commonplace occurrence the way Zelda had stepped back for the moment and then casually rejoined him.

"Whoa!" A voice said. Zelda and Link turned around quickly.

A Mogma was before them, one they both recognized with a slight smile.

"Haven't seen one of your kind in a looong time. Funny story, actually, there was this pretty girl around here looking for the Earth Temple."

"Kortz," Zelda prompted. "That was me."

"Oh! Whadduya know!" Kortz said with thrown hands and a surprised expression. "Look at you! I thought you looked kinda familiar. Your friend actually looks familiar too."

"Skyview Temple," Link said, recalling the interaction. "You were looking for treasure."

"Wow, small world, eh? Running into two friends in two different places. Crazy business."

Link and Zelda shared a distinct look before Kortz continued, prompting them to look at him.

"It's nice to see you and all, but those rings on your fingers look pretty nice. Any chance you'd like to part with 'em?"

Link tried to contain a laugh, Zelda doing the same with much more success before replying.

"No, these rings are pretty important to us," Zelda said. "They signify our marriage."

"Marriage, huh? I have no idea what that means but it sounds important so I guess I'll leave them be."

"Thank you."

"Anything I can help you find this time?" Kortz asked.

"No," Zelda said before slightly tipping her head towards Link. "I've got my own personal expert now."

"I wouldn't say expert," Link said.

"Once you've seen the volcano it's hard to forget," Kortz said.

Link shrugged.

"I guess."

"Well, if you do need my help, I don't know how you could call me, but maybe I'll pop up in the knick a' time."

"Of course, Kortz, thank you," Zelda said with a nod.

"See ya later," Kortz replied, emerging back into the ground.

Link and Zelda turned back around, continuing along and nearing a second bridge, this one Link remembered having to activate so he wouldn't fall into the dark abyss.

He was glad he didn't have to do that again, and that there were no Moblins to bid them welcome. Enemies like that and Bokoblins had been long gone in the absence of Ghirahim and Demise, much to Link's relief.

Zelda watched as Link tested the bridge, Zelda stopping for a second to leave him to his precaution.

Yet, she suddenly felt a wave of dizziness overcome her, staggering toward a cave wall before placing a hand to brace herself. She tried to breathe in and out, but the world continued to blur and spin.

"Link," Zelda said weakly,

"What?" He said, turning to her voice.

With panic he realized her drifting energy, her weakening grip on the wall.

"Zelda?" Link said in a panic, rushing to catch her weak and crumbling body.

She was in his arms quickly, Link crouching as he held her.

"Zelda?" he asked desperately. "What is it?"

"I'm fine," she said with her next breath, her drifting consciousness coming back into focus.

"You almost just collapsed," Link said. "Are you sure?"

Zelda nodded, tilting her head back up.

"It's probably just the heat," she said as Link helped her to standing.

"You should have been fine with the earring in," Link reasoned, his gaze not once wavering from his concern.

Zelda paused.

Link was right, she should have been fine.

Her mind ran through a million different streams of logic before it landed on a very particular one.

"Z-Zelda?" Link stammered in her silence.

"Sorry," Zelda said with a small chuckle and standing up completely. "I just lost my train of thought."

Link looked at her skeptically as they let go of each other, yet he soon shook it off.

"I guess it is a bit hotter," he reasoned. "Plus with us sharing a pair of earrings we're bound to have less protection."

Link continued on his way, Zelda standing still for a bit as a smile crept upon her. It quickly grew to a laugh of disbelief.

And happiness.

Zelda caught up to Link with a jog, hiding her smile.

"So here's a question," Zelda said with a knowing smirk, hoping that Link's usual cluelessness would remain. She didn't want to get his hopes up.

"Shoot," Link prompted.

"Considering Karane and Pipit," she started, hands behind her back. "What do you think of us starting a family of our own?"

Link pursed his lips, trying not to laugh until he couldn't restrain himself. Zelda looked over to him, with the terrifying thought that he thought she was joking.

"What's so funny?" Zelda asked, trying to keep calm.

Link seemed to be able to settle himself.

"Do you remember our first date?" he asked.

Zelda furrowed her brow in contemplation, her mind flipping through memory after memory, their first kiss, their first 'I love you', but…

"Y-yeah…it was great…" she replied.

For goodness sake, how could she forget. She hoped that answer would suffice until he made his point.

But he only shook his head with a chuckle.

"You were sick," he started. "You came out of the temple, gorgeous as ever, but pale, your forehead burning up with a high fever. It wasn't long before I led you back to your sleeping place under the tree."

Zelda listened intently, looking to his profile, his small smile as he spoke.

"It took a bit to convince you that you were sick," he continued. "You wanted to go on the picnic I planned so badly. It wasn't until you really settled into your sickness-induced delirium that you let that go."

"I don't remember that at all," Zelda said, still trying to dig for it to no avail.

"About a half an hour in, you told me that you were so glad you married me."

Zelda's eyes widened and her face flushed.

"Oh goddesses," she whispered. "I'm so sorry, Link. We must have only been together a few weeks. I don't think I meant…"

"I thought it was adorable," Link interjected, looking to her softly.

Zelda was mesmerized, stopping her pacing as she got lost in his blue eyes.

But it soon clicked in her mind, her eyes popping wide and her head tilting slowly and subtlely.

"Oh no," she said.

But Link smiled in acknowledgement.

"You went on to say that you wanted us to have a daughter, but you wouldn't mind a son either."

Zelda covered her face with her hands, mortified beyond belief.

But Link only shook his head, taking his hands to hers and moving them away from her face.

He held them gently chest-level, making sure her eyes locked into his.

"And then I smiled," he said with a smile.

"And I brought my forehead to yours," he said as he did exactly that. "It was sweaty, but I didn't care."

"And then I said," he continued. "With all my heart…that I'd love them either way."

Zelda closed her eyes, tears falling before she slid her arms into Links' embrace.

"So yes, Zel, I think we should start a family," he said before releasing from the embrace and continuing to walk. "Obviously not right this second, as much as I'd want to strip down in this heat, but eventually, sure."

The two were now facing the entrance to the second dragon, yet a pool of lava blocked their path.

"We'll have to hop along those platforms," Link said, Zelda's hand going to her stomach as her heart leapt with concern. "Obviously the spumes are gone but the lava is still a pretty big hazard. Do you think you can make those jumps?"

He waited for her reply and, when there was none, looked to her.

"Zel?"

"Hm," she retorted, pulled out of her trance of worry.

"Do you think you can make those jumps?"

"Uhm…"

She told herself to tell him, again and again as she stood there.

But did she even know for sure? She may not be. And if she even mentioned the idea past a hypothetical he would make sure they went back home immediately and all this would have been for nothing.

The dragon was right through that archway, and she had to get there.

"Yeah, yeah I can make those."

* * *

"Welcome," the dragon said in his booming and echoing voice. "I have anticipated your arrival greatly. I sense your request is of much importance."

"Yes," Zelda said in reply, looking up at the large dragon. "We seek answers of the past."

"I see," Eldin said with a nod. "It seems wisdom alludes you, but the desire for it makes you wiser than us all. To cower in ignorance is a sin that I'm not surprised that now you openly defy. But first, I regret that I must apologize for us dragons' prior absence. There is much more to our responsibilities than you currently know. We return to this realm only for Hylia."

"So if she announced herself as Hylia after the dragons first disappeared, they would have stayed?" Link asked.

"Yes, if needed, we bow to the goddess' wishes," Eldin continued. "Although I was surprised when you invoked the name Hylia after denouncing it, but I expected someday you would realize its' necessity, with a healthy bit of caution, of course."

"Of course," Zelda replied.

"Now, what has you so curious that you risk so much to come all the way here?"

"The war that occurred," Zelda started. "There is a lot of mystery surrounding a certain tribe that helped us fight. We were wondering if you knew anything of their possible whereabouts, whether or not there are any possible survivors."

"Hmm…very interesting," Eldin said in reply. "Are you by any chance referring to the Sheikah?"

"Maybe," Zelda said, starting to get excited. "Their symbol is an eye, with a teardrop coming from its' center."

"Yes, those are the Sheikah," Eldin said with slow nods, Zelda looking to Link excitedly before she stepped forward in her earnest.

"Do…do you know where they are? What happened to them? Farore said they all died, but…but they couldn't have. It's not right."

Eldin beamed a smile at the girl.

"Without all your memories I must admit it is quite amusing to watch you rediscover your own morality."

Zelda and Link were not amused, Eldin stopped himself from laughter as he cleared his throat.

"Yes, well," Eldin started. "I may not know as much about them as someone like Lanayru, but I do know they once resided in his province. If they did survive the war perhaps they retreated there."

"So it is possible that they survived," Zelda said, continuing her excitement.

"Yes, of course," Eldin said. "But as a dragon I fear I only know of the happenings of Eldin, and even then I don't see much from here. Unless Hylia calls upon me for something like this or assisting the hero, we wait for her orders in another realm. Lanayru, who is most certainly in his desert, will know the most."

"That's great!" Zelda said as she looked to Link, who prompted her with a nod towards the dragon.

"Oh right," she said as she returned her gaze upwards. "We have another request."

"We've been looking for the Sheikah ourselves and we didn't find anything in our records but there were two documents we couldn't translate. We thought maybe you could take a look."

"Of course," Eldin said.

Before long, the two documents floated from Link's pack with a magical red glimmer, the expression of wonderment on Link and Zelda's faces making Eldin smile.

He closed his eyes as the documents spun around each other, flipping and circling in their orbit.

"They're both written in the dragons' tongue, likely a dead language by now except in written form. Let's see…the first one's pretty clear."

"Oh youth, guided by the servant of the goddess, unite earth and sky, and bring light to the land. Oh youth, show the two whirling sails the way to the Light Tower…and before you a path shall open, and a heavenly song you shall hear. Oh youth, this light you have takes shape before you but also within you…beware among your kind what it incurs."

Link closed the small distance between him and Zelda, asking quietly,

"Is that the full version of the Ballad of the goddess?"

"Yeah, why?" She asked without turning her head.

"I'd just never heard it before."

Eldin's forehead creased in concentration, trying to translate the second document.

"Damn it, Lanayru."

"What?" Link asked. "What is it?"

Eldin opened his eyes, the documents floating back into Link's pack.

"I sincerely apologize. Lanayru may perhaps be the wisest of the dragons, but he has the absolute messiest handwriting. You'll have to show it to him."

"We understand," Zelda said with a nod. "Thank you so much for trying."

"Of course," Eldin said with that powerful, fiery smile. "If you are to take your leave at this time, let me bid my farewell."

"Same to you," Link said before they turned to face the exit.

"Wait," Eldin prompted, them turning back around. "I see it would be best for me to transport you outside the volcano."

Link looked to Zelda expecting to share a look of confusion, but her gaze was on the dragon before them, her lips parting and her eyes blinking wide.

"Farewell Hylia and her hero," Eldin said as they started to sparkle with a golden light. "May your future bring good tidings."

"And Zelda?"

"Hm?" She retorted.

"Congratulations."

Zelda smiled as they were transported, it growing to an exhale of disbelief.

* * *

"Congratulations?" Link asked.

"The wedding, remember?" Zelda said, thankful for her quick thinking.

Not now, she would tell him later.

She had to know for sure.

"Right, right."

"We can fly directly to Lanayru from here if you want, unless you want to walk that too."

"Actually, uhm…" Zelda said, her hands on her stomach. "I was actually thinking about going to Skyloft, and…and home so we can get some more provisions. You said we were running out."

Link nodded, Zelda relieved he didn't even question it.

"Okay," he said whistling for his Loftwing. "I'll meet you back at the house tonight."

The Crimson Loftwing landed close, Link mounting it before he looked to Zelda.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay on your own?"

"Yes," she said, approaching him.

She ran her fingers through his hair with a smile, bringing his lips to crash into hers. It was intoxicatingly passionate, Link almost getting carried away before Zelda released. An incredulous chuckle followed suit.

"What," Link said with a breaching smile, searching her.

"Nothing, just…just happy."

"We have that in common," Link said, them sharing another kiss before he flew off with a smirk.

Zelda whistled for her own Loftwing as she watched him fly off.

"Hello sweet girl," she said, touching its' beak before her hand ran through the fur on its' head. "Be gentle with me, okay? Just a smooth, careful ride to Skyloft."


	9. Expectation

With a couple flaps of its' purple wings, Zelda's Loftwing's momentum was stalled. It landed gently on the surface of Hyrule before Zelda stepped off.

She wrung her hands as she looked around, her Loftwing flying off into the sunset behind her.

With determination in her step, she approached her house, hand on the knob. Deep breath in and out.

"Link?" She inquired as she opened the door.

Yet, the house was dark and empty.

"Link?" She asked again, peering at the shadows, looking up at the bedroom with her hand on the railing of the stairs.

He just wasn't home.

Zelda exited the house, looking around before a red hue caught the corner of her eye.

"Groose," she said.

He was hammering at a wall outside Karane and Pipit's near-completed home, obviously not hearing her.

Zelda came closer and repeated his name.

"Groose."

He winced at the surprise, turning and breathing a sigh of relief.

"Skies, you scared me," he said. "About time the pair of you got home. Over two weeks. We were starting to worry."

"Have you seen Link?" Zelda asked abruptly.

"Yeah," Groose said, looking to and fro before he returned his gaze to Zelda. "He was around a couple hours ago, but I think he got bored and went to the woods. I wouldn't worry, though, I'm sure he'll be back in no time."

Zelda sighed as Groose casually went back to work, grabbing another nail.

"I…have something I need to tell him," Zelda said shakily.

"What are you pregnant or something?" Groose retorted casually.

Zelda was silent as she felt her face pale, Groose aiming the hammer carefully as he waited for a reply, some quick denial to his quip, furrowing his brow when there was none.

He looked to Zelda quickly, dropping the nail, the hammer. Thankfully they landed nowhere near his feet.

His yellow eyes were wide, taking a great big inhale before he gave Zelda a great big hug.

"Yes," she said with a small laugh. "I am."

Groose released her with a smile.

"It's just so unbelievable," Groose said excitedly. "You and Link are gonna have a kid."

"I wanted Link to be the first to know. But, first my father and now…"

"Your father?"

"Well, I went to Skyloft to get myself checked out and I ran into him almost immediately after and he said something about how I was glowing like mother when she was expecting me…"

Groose gave an apologetic smile.

"So there went Link being the first to know," Zelda finished.

"Well, don't you worry," Groose said. "I'll go find him right now, make sure he's the third to know you're expecting."

"Thank you," Zelda said, gratitude in her eyes.

"You're pregnant?" Asked a voice behind her, Zelda turning around with a wince to see Karane and Pipit in shock.

"F-fifth," Groose corrected.

"Just find him before Father tells all of Skyloft," Zelda said to Groose.

He whistled, a blue loftwing soon charging down and landing on the grass.

"Will do," he said with a salute as he flew off hastily, Zelda's hair blown by the wind of the Loftwing's wings.

Zelda turned to face Karane and Pipit but before she knew it Karane had enraptured her in a great big hug.

"I'm so happy for you!" Karane exclaimed. "How far along are you? A few weeks right?"

She let go, her hands on Zelda's shoulders.

"I'm just so excited! Does Link know? How did he react? Pipit near…"

"Karane," Pipit interrupted with a calm voice. "Let's get her inside."

"Of course," Karane said, placing a supportive arm around Zelda and leading her to her own house. "Sorry about that. This must be overwhelming for you. How about the most important question, how do you feel?"

"I feel fine actually," Zelda said as they entered the house, Pipit lighting the lamps as the darkness faded away. "Just a little nervous…and excited. I just want Link to know."

"He will, don't worry," Karane said, sitting Zelda down.

"I guess the whole research thing will be going on hold then, huh?" Pipit asked casually, as if it went without saying.

"What makes you say that?" Zelda asked.

Pipit and Karane exchanged a distinct look, almost laughing.

"No sane person, Link especially, is going let you continue on your quest."

"But…we were starting to get answers," Zelda reasoned, placing a hand on her stomach. "We…we can't stop now."

"Zelda, it's fine," Karane said, trying to calm her apparent panic. "The past can wait. There's a beautiful future that you and Link are now expecting."

Zelda's brow creased.

"Right," she said in reply.

"Are you hungry?" Karane asked, standing up. "I'll fix you something."

"Y-yeah sure," Zelda said, not focused at all on the prospect of food. "Thanks."

* * *

The leaves rustled in the cool night air, the whisper it brought racing along the greenery, along the blonde hair of the man within it. He paid the wind no mind as he lay on his stomach, a map before him that by now he was more than engrossed in. It was the tiny details of Faron he loved to perfect from his vantage point at the very top of the large tree, as if Hyrule was crafted by his very hand, the specificity in his control. Of course Hyrule was already decided by some higher power, the way cliffs bended, the way rivers curved, the way trees dotted along. But this was likely the map they would not only rely on now, but in the generations to come. By his own hand, he was drawing the future of navigation, his own small part in what lied before and beyond him.

Link's head tilted up from the map, focusing on the white structure miles below him, the bird statue at its' top.

He liked it up here. And, until Zelda returned from Skyloft, he would continue to treasure this peace, this tranquility. Taking a thankful inhale and a grateful exhale, Link blinked his eyes closed and open slowly.

Link took a glance down at his hand, placing down the pencil. He unstrapped his glove, which revealed a single triangle on the back of his hand. Every time he saw it he hoped it would change, that it would go back to being three and he wouldn't have to worry about it.

He had even gone to check on the Triforce before coming here. And, at the sight that it was full and intact and the triangles on his hand weren't, he breathed a cautious if not hesitant sigh of relief.

He knew he had to talk to Zelda to sort it out, tell her something was wrong he just couldn't explain. Link considered that it was just his anxiety, that the triangles on his hand were perhaps always meant to fade away one by one, the more time he was farther removed from his time as the chosen hero.

But the bad feeling he had eroded at him and, as he lay at the very top of the large tree, he resigned himself to finally tell her when everything with the Sheikah had settled down. For now, however, they seemed to be in no immediate danger because of it. That was an excuse Link was accustomed to by now.

One thing at a time, he figured. Even for him, the whole Sheikah thing was stressful enough.

He put his glove back on before laying his head on his arms and picking up the pencil. Returning his focus to the map, his pencil marked lines he knew well, refining them and increasing their accuracy. Link tried to push away his worry of the moments beyond.

"There you are!" He heard Groose exclaim behind him, accompanied by a sigh of relief. "Thank Hylia."

"Mm," Link hummed in acknowledgement, not moving his head.

"Zelda's back from Skyloft," Groose said with haste in his cadence.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there in a bit," Link said casually.

"She has something to tell you," Groose said, using all his might not to tell him for her.

"Since when are you a messenger service?" Link retorted as he continued to draw details on the map.

"Link, she…"

Groose bit his lip.

"She what?" Link said before sitting up and looking to Groose. "Is she okay? Why didn't she come herself?"

"I'm here because she asked me to find you," Groose said. "Come on."

Link sighed.

"I guess I have been here a while," he said as he stood up, picking up the map.

"Okay," Groose said with relief. "Let's go then."


	10. Withheld

"And you're sure you don't want us to stay?" Karane asked.

"It's really okay," Zelda said as he walked them to the door. "I'll be fine. I'm sure Link will be home any moment now."

It was like magic, Link opening the door casually and closing it as Zelda beamed a smile.

"Link!" She exclaimed as she barreled into him, Link letting out a laugh as he held her.

"Such a nice welcome," he said jokingly.

Zelda let go, her arms around the back of his neck.

"I have something to tell you."

"I heard," Link said. "I have something to tell you too."

"Oh?"

Zelda took his hand, guiding them to sit on the nearby kitchen stools.

"You go first," she said.

"Well, I was working on the map and…I was thinking maybe we could map out the way to Lanayru too, walk our way there like we did to Eldin."

Zelda's expression sank, Link obviously not taking notice.

"It's a large hole in the map we could fill," he continued. "It would take another couple weeks to get there, but it's an option. What do you think?"

"I…"

Zelda glanced at Karane, who prompted her along with a gesture of her head.

She looked to Link again, taking a deep breath in and out.

"Yeah," she said shakily, trying to clear it up with her next words. "Yeah I think that's a great idea."

"I thought so," Link said before he brought a hand to her cheek, the other in hers. "Now what was it you wanted to tell me?"

Zelda bowed her head.

"O-only…only that we…"

She let out an exhale, tilting her head back up.

"It turns out we think alike," Zelda said with a forced smile. "I was going to suggest the same thing."

Link's smile was contrastingly real, it growing until he kissed her cheek.

Pipit's mouth was popped open, Karane massaging the bridge of her nose, eyes closed with disappointment.

"S-so you guys are leaving again?" Pipit asked, Link and Zelda looking to them.

"Yeah," Link said in reply. "I'd invite you guys, but I think that you'd better stay here, considering."

"Right," Pipit said, changing his glance from Link to Zelda. "Seems like it's a bit dangerous for a pregnant woman."

Pipit's gaze stayed on Zelda, lingering for a second before it shifted back to Link.

"Wouldn't you agree?"

"Of course," Link said in reply.

* * *

"Hey," Groose said, approaching Karane and Pipit. "Have you by any chance seen the other two lovebirds? I didn't get a chance last night to see how the poor guy reacted. You know, night shift patrol and all."

Karane and Pipit exchanged glances.

"What?" Asked Groose.

"They, uhh…left…this morning," Karane said. "For Lanayru."

"They…they left?" Groose said with raised eyebrows and an extended hand. "You have to be joking. Link would never let her go to Lanayru."

When seeing the absolute seriousness in Karane and Pipit's eyes, Groose started to figure it out.

"He doesn't know?!" Exclaimed Groose. "Why in the skies did you two not tell him?"

"It's not for us to tell."

Groose looked up at sky, rolling his eyes.

"For the love of Hylia," he whispered under his breath, walking away.

"I hope she knows what she's doing."

* * *

**Author's Note: Short chapter, I know. Definitely some longer ones coming up. Thank you so much for reading so far!**


	11. Guilty Conscience

Link offered his hand downwards, Zelda taking it with a firm grip before he pulled her up the edge of the cliff.

"Thanks," she said with panted breaths, gaining her bearings.

"Of course," Link replied with a small smile before looking outwards.

"There it is," he said, taking a couple steps forward, "Lanayru Desert."

Zelda took the map out from her pack as she joined him, looking at it and trailing with her fingers.

"That ends the expansive empty desert then," she said, kneeling down with the map in front of her. "That last stretch should fill in this section of the map."

"It felt like months we were walking in the desert," Link remarked, kneeling down next to her.

"That would have been interesting," Zelda mumbled as she filled in the map, with less meticulousness and neatness that Link would have. Except he would have taken hours to make it perfect, which is why Zelda did it now. He could fix it later.

"What?"

"Nothing," she said. "Just that it wasn't that bad of a two weeks."

"True," Link agreed as he stood back up. "With nothing but those large robots to bid us welcome, I'm glad I had you around."

With his hands on his hips, he surveyed the desert, the emblem in the distance colorized by the sunrise. It was familiar, Link giving a small smile.

Zelda had put the map away, standing back up and at his side. Link placed an arm around her, Zelda leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Are you ready?" He asked. "For some answers?"

"I don't know," Zelda said in reply. "Sometimes the truth hurts, but…I need to know. I can't live my future on a guilty conscience, as easy as that would be."

Link rubbed her arm, placing his head on hers.

"Link?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something kind of out of the blue?"

"Why not?"

"You'll stay with me no matter what, right?" She asked. "Even if the truth gets hard."

There was a silence, Zelda not knowing it was because Link took the time to indulge a bigger smile.

"No truth could keep me from you, Zel," he said. "You know that."

"I know," she said. "It's just nice to hear sometimes."

Link nodded.

"I understand."

Zelda closed her eyes to bask in the moment, this one moment.

She tried not to think of the ones beyond.

* * *

The sun shone hotter here.

She tried not to show her weakness, trailing just behind Link. She had already asked for enough water, but she knew she needed more. Her vision teased to blur, her lightheadedness making her lose her groundedness, her guilt tying her stomach into knots.

Or was it the thing she was guilty about that was physically making her stomach ache, that with every passing second she was jeopardizing more and more by just being here.

She breathed an exhale.

Link would protect her, and by extension their unborn child.

Everything was fine.

"This is the last one," she heard Link say. She tried to focus her gaze on him, peering with narrowed eyes until her groundedness returned, her vision as well. "Right up this ledge."

She watched Link climb up the already downed mine cart, then the ledge like it was a piece of cake. He swiveled around in his crouch, holding out his hand. Zelda took it, trying not to let her hesitance show, soon pulled up right next to him

"How are we going to get up there?" Zelda asked as they walked along, looking up with worry and stopping before the gap of the quicksand.

"The claw-shot, of course," Link said casually, with one already out and in his hand,

He fiddled with it, testing it out on the platform they stood on, ensuing harmless sparks to fly.

"No, no," Zelda clarified. "I meant how are both of us going to get up there."

Link chuckled.

"Well, I'll hold you," he said as he took an arm around her waist.

She was glad she hadn't really started to show yet.

"Uhm," she said as she looked worriedly from where his hand was to the high platform they were to latch onto. "A-are you sure?"

"It'll be fine," he said before he gave her a peck on the cheek. "Embrace your sense of risk and adventure."

"Risk and adventure," she repeated shakily.

"I won't let go," he said as he aimed the claw-shot. "I promise."

She had to do something, say something.

Zelda started to feel nauseous, but this time she knew it wasn't the baby. The nausea came from her guilt, the way it ate at her, poisoned her, made her feel horrible in non-physical ways that degraded her heart.

Link was waiting for her okay, the way his head was turned, studying her.

"Link…"

Her breaths were short as she clamped her eyes shut.

She needed to tell him. She needed to tell him now. She wanted to tell him now. She wanted to tell him before.

Now, in this moment, and not in any beyond.

Now.

So that he would know, so that they could both rejoice, so that they could go home where she would be safe.

Where their baby would be safe.

But Link was wrong. It was her sense of risk that had led her here, to this very moment, risking her future for the past. A future that would not exist if not for the past, such a bloody, horrible past.

She hugged her arms around the back of his neck tightly, burying her head in the crook of his neck.

"Just do it," she said.

She heard the claw-shot open, trying to focus instead on how good Link smelled, how good she felt holding him. She clutched him tighter as the chain slinked, pulling them along with great force.

She refused to let go, her panic and her fear now drowning any other sensation.

"Zelda," she heard.

It was an echo, barely registering in her ears. She tried to focus more on it, tried to really hear it as more than a whisper or a thin tone.

"Zelda," she heard again. It was more normal this time. "It's okay…you're okay…Zelda."

She could still feel him, the back of his neck was shaky, she couldn't quite hold it until she realized that he wasn't the one who was shaking.

Zelda tried to get control of her tremulous hands as she realized she was practically petting Link's neck, over and over, one hand replacing the other.

She finally choked into a sob as her hands reached upwards into his hair, burying her face further into the crook of his shoulder.

"You're okay," he said with a soothing voice, rubbing circles into her back. "You're okay. We made it, we're in the cave. Everything's okay."

Zelda nodded in understanding as Link rocked her where she sat on his lap, planting kisses on the top of her head.

"Link," she said with a sniffle, finally emerging from the sanctuary, the darkness and vagueness of his shoulder.

He wiped away her tear.

"You're okay," he assured her once more.

Zelda nodded again, standing up off his lap as she hugged her arms close. Link's hand had slid down her back as she did.

She was facing away from him, knowing very well that she could attribute her tears to a generic fear of the claw shot, of heights, of moving fast, of doing something dangerous.

But Link knew she had experienced all four in the past.

He waited patiently for an explanation as Zelda willed herself to give it.

"It's okay to be scared," Link said. "That was faster than even I expected."

Zelda turned around, her eyes meeting his. Link expected her to nod in agreement.

"…zzrbt…"

There was an old robot beside them, barely functioning, beige and without coloration much like the rest of its' kind. Link and Zelda looked to it immediately.

"…wa-ar…ning…"

Its' speech was broken, but Link stood up at the word anyway, bracing himself for danger.

"…warning…three life si-igns…d-d-detected…"

Link's eyes widened, rushing before Zelda as he unsheathed his sword and shield. He protected her from every edge of the circular cave, looking to and fro, looking up, looking down.

"Stay back!" He exclaimed, Zelda's eyes flitting with so many emotions that her heart almost burned. Pity for Link being so quick to assume danger, guilt for keeping her pregnancy a secret, happiness that it will all finally come out in the next few moments.

"Link," she started, latching a hand on his shoulder.

"It could be anything," he said with a small glance to her. "If you see anything te—"

"The extra life sign," she interrupted, Link's focus unrelentingly on the wall before them. "It isn't a monster."

Link started circling slower as he processed her words, Zelda sliding her hand off his shoulder.

He stopped dead and she waited, studying his broad shoulders, the way they stood still.

Link turned his head, then his body, Zelda holding her breath.

His eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes unfocused as he sorted his thoughts until the blue seemed to realign on her, as if asking a silent question, the way his eyebrows had raised.

Zelda slowly willed her head to tilt up with an inhale, an apprehensive silence before she nodded quickly.

Link's lips parted as his sword and shield clattered to the ground.

It was a couple seconds before he assumed heavy breaths, his lips curving into a wide smile.

His chest deflated with a chuckle, Zelda smiling at how unbelievably happy he was. Link looked to the ground and back to her in his disbelief.

His lips tried to form words, but none did, and none would do for the happiness he was feeling.

Link studied Zelda in order to share this wordless joy, for the first time noticing her cautious smile, the twinge of guilt in her eyes.

Link's expression dropped completely until it drowned in betrayal, the courageous flame burning in his blue eyes framed by a furrowed brow.

But this time it wouldn't work in her favor.

"You knew," he said in almost a whisper, like he figured it out as he said it.

Zelda bowed her head.

"Zelda?" he inquired, it coming out like some command.

Zelda nodded, keeping her head down.

With a glare, Link shook his head.

He turned around and sat back down, his hand on the side of his head like he had a great headache.


	12. Wisdom

"I don…I don't even know where to start."

"I know," Zelda said with a sigh.

"I…I'm sorry, but," he said with closed eyes, opening them to continue, "you're…you're pregnant?"

"Yes."

With a sharp exhale, Link lifted his head up from his hand, his eyes searching nothing where he sat upright.

"That's…that's a month," he said, starting to yell. "A month! A whole month! The…the lava, the flying, the—"

He stopped himself.

"When did you know?"

"After Eldin," she admitted. "I went to Skyloft because I had a feeling I was…and then they confirmed it…and I was going tell you, but—"

"You…you knew when I asked you about Lanayru?" He practically interrupted her with his question.

"Yes."

"Where did you think we were going, Zelda?!" He exclaimed, standing up. "I can't believe you! Why didn't you tell me?!"

Zelda was starting to tear up.

"There is no past worth risking this! Do you understand?! Nothing is worth risking this!"

"Stop!" Zelda exclaimed. "Just…stop!"

"You don't think I feel the same!" She said. "You don't think the guilt was eating away at me, every single second?! You don't think I wanted to tell you?!"

Tears were streaming down her face.

"I wanted to tell you the moment I first thought about it in Eldin. I wanted to tell you when the dragon congratulated me. I wanted to tell you when it was confirmed. I wanted to tell you when you came home, when I saw your face, and knew deep down in my heart that I was carrying your child, that with you, the love of my life, we had created another. I was so damn happy, Link!"

Link was crying too, but Zelda didn't want to think of why.

"And then you endangered it!" He yelled back.

"I needed to know the truth!"

"SO DID I!" Link countered, breathing heavily.

Zelda stepped back, conceding. She was definitely in the wrong.

She thought her guilt would alleviate after he knew but it only worsened. She didn't want to look at him anymore, that face that was so far removed from love.

He hated her, he must have, putting his child in danger.

The baby was fine, the life sign comment ensured that, but it may not have been. All she had put herself through.

"We're going!" He said, walking off. "We're going right now! I'm calling my Loftwing, or yours, hell, Groose's for all I care! Come on, we're going right now!"

"No," Zelda implored, chasing after him. "No, Link, we're so close."

Her hands were on his shoulders but he didn't turn around.

"You promised, remember?" She asked rhetorically. "That you would help me find as many answers as we could. We give up now and we…sit around for eight months? Years beyond that? Never knowing what history has to teach us? We turn our backs on that bloodshed, we accept it as necessary…what example would we be setting for our child? For generations beyond that?"

"Please," Zelda added, hoping she had appealed to something within him.

Link sighed.

"Not we," he said calmer, turning around to face her. "Me."

"What?" Zelda said breathlessly. "What are you…?"

"You fly back home," he said, his voice breaking. "I'll stay here, get all the answers I can. I'll try my best."

"Link," she said as she shook her head.

"I need you safe," Link said slowly and shakily, gripping the sides of her arms.

"And I need you," Zelda replied with a contrasting confidence. "Link, I can't have you going alone in dangerous places, especially into what is largely unknown. If Lanayru clues you into the Sheikah's location, that's…we don't know anything about that…I'll get sick with worry."

"We've been separated before."

"And it killed me, Link," Zelda implored. "I know it killed you too."

Link sighed, his forehead meeting hers as his hands on her arms softened.

With a downward gaze, his eyes drifted to her stomach, one hand going to the back of her head and the other brushing cautiously downwards. Link let out a chuckle, his fingers retreating in hesitation before his entire hand was warm and gentle on her stomach.

Zelda felt herself melt and soften at the sensation. There was nothing wrong that she needed jerk away from or to hesitate in reaction. His hand was more than familiar and it being on her stomach, with its' newfound expectation and its' deep connection to their love, nothing felt more right. Zelda brought her arms to dangle around the back of his neck and took the slightest step forward. The closer she came to him, the warmer she felt his touch and the love in it, the safer she felt.

"Everything I said," he whispered. "Has been said out of anger. This situation we're in is both our faults and I just don't want to lose what we've been given. I'm…so mad that you kept it from me, but…"

"Link, I'm so sorry."

"But that doesn't matter," he continued. "You want to know why?"

"Why?" Zelda asked, scared of the answer.

"Because I love you," Link said. "And I love our child. That will never change."

Zelda nodded.

"And I promise," Link insisted. "That I will keep you both safe."

Zelda smiled.

"Thank you."

Link enraptured her in a hug, Zelda returning the tightness of the embrace.

"I'm so happy," he said before releasing her with a chuckle. "I mean, we're gonna have a baby."

"We're gonna have a baby," she repeated before she kissed him.

Her guilt washed away.

* * *

It was only a couple steps to the Lanayru Gorge that inhabited the dragon, yet the amount of questions Link asked Zelda in such a short amount of time was miraculous. All sorts of panicked quandaries on how she was feeling, whether or not she needed more water, and about a dozen other things only a hyper-concerned husband would ask.

"And you're sure?"

"Yes, Link," she said, tightening her grip on his hand. "If something was wrong I would tell you."

"Would you now?" Link ask pointedly, jokingly.

"Sorry, bad choice of words."

"But seriously," he said, looking to her. "You would tell me if something was wrong, right?"

"Yes," she said in reply. "I don't think my conscience can take any more lies. This is our baby and I'd be lost without you."

"Baby, huh?" A loud voice asked, Zelda and Link looking forward to see Lanayru ascending from canyon below. "Yes, I see that. Congratulations, young incarnate."

"Thank you," Zelda said with a nod, sharing a smile with Link before their gazes returned forward.

"I gather you wouldn't risk so much for just a visit," Lanayru chimed. "What can I help you with?"

"The other dragons tell me you know of the Sheikah."

"The Sheikah…hm…" Lanayru said in reply. "Been quite a while since I heard that name."

"Eldin said they once resided here, is that true?"

"Yes and no," Lanayru replied. "They came seeking shelter long before they met Hylia. I provided it for a spell right here in my very mines until they moved to a more permanent residence in the East. That is where they resided until they were enlisted for the war."

"Do you know exactly where?" Zelda asked eagerly. "Can you tell us anything the other dragons couldn't?"

"I'm afraid that even I don't know, Your Grace. The dragons, as you've likely been told, were assigned to protect certain races as deities. Faron, the Parellas and the Kikwis, Eldin, the Mogmas, and I, the robots. What you refer to now as the Hylians were under her care and only she knew of the Sheikah, where to find them after they left me, how to persuade them to join her war, their fate afterwards. So, you see Zelda, the answers you seek lie within you, and I'm not talking about what you carry."

"Hylia's memories," Zelda ascertained. "I…I've gotten as much as I could but nothing coherent about the Sheikah…just a few words and images that led me to seek more…flashes, really."

"Hmm," Lanayru said as he nodded, "interesting. I do remember Hylia devising her plan, the four main memories she singled out as the most important before the amber seal would fill in the gaps."

"I…I'm sorry, four?" Zelda retorted with an extended hand.

"Yes, four," Lanayru said. "Did you not get four?"

"Impa really wasn't kidding when she said we were running out of time," Link said. "She skipped a memory."

"I only got three," Zelda said to Lanayru. "The Skyview Spring, the Earth Spring, and the Temple of Hylia…no wonder it felt like something was missing."

"Yes," he said in reply. "I'd be glad to tell you where the last is but alas my memory is foggy. I'm afraid I've even lost the parchment where they were written down."

Zelda quickly rummaged through Link's pack, pulling out the two parchments and singling out the one that had yet to be translated.

"Is this it?" She said excitedly as she offered it to the dragon.

"How do you have this?" Lanayru asked as it lifted from her grip with a glowing yellow magic, drifting to float before the dragon.

"It was stuffed in one of our books," Link answered. "Maybe it was a mistake."

"It was a very chaotic time," Lanayru said with a sigh. "I wouldn't be surprised."

"I will apologize for its' illegibility," he continued. "Not just my poor handwriting but it being written in your tongue would have saved you two a lot of trouble. At the time, we were just writing in our language."

"Can you still translate it?" Zelda asked.

"Why, yes of course," Lanayru said, closing his eyes.

"With a view of the skies, you will see my first mortal desire. Atop a glowing mountain, you will see my greatest regret. Grounded in the earth, you will see my heart's despair. In my temple, you will see my unprecedented sacrifice. In your amber sleep, my young incarnate, these will come together, whether one or four, yet I urge the latter. Though time may deny you the truth, know it is your right."

Zelda was speechless before she remembered she must not be, clamoring to find her words.

"R-repeat that," she said, looking down in her contemplation, her anticipation. "The mountain bit."

"Atop a glowing mountain, you will see my greatest regret."

Zelda looked to Link quickly with parted lips.

"Greatest regret," she said with a breaching smile. "That has to be the Sheikah. Link, we did it. We found something."

She leapt into his embrace, Link returning it.

"It is called the Mountain Spring," Lanayru said, Zelda letting go of the hug and looking to Lanayru. "But I'm afraid that's all I can remember. I wish I could be more helpful."

"No worries," Zelda said. "You've helped immensely. Thank you so much. Until I call you again I, the goddess Hylia, dismiss you and your kin from this realm."

The dragon bowed his head in reverence before fading away.

"Okay," Zelda said, turning to Link. "Glowing mountain…what could that mean?"

"Zel," Link said with a smile. "Don't you remember? The mountain we saw on our way to Eldin?"

Zelda's eyes widened.

"Yes! Yes that's it! Get out the map!"

Link pulled out the map and spread it on the ground, them both hastily crowding around the East side of Hyrule.

"We were halfway," Link said as he pointed, his finger sliding along. "Right around…"

"There!" Zelda said, meeting his finger on the map. "Remember we stopped just before the fork in that river."

"Yes! Okay, so then the mountain…"

They both traced their fingers East.

"Would be here," Zelda said.

She marked the estimation on the map with an "X" as Link leaned back to sit on his heels, still studying the map.

"If it's a mountain we should be able to see it pretty clearly," Link said. "Although I have a feeling I know why we wouldn't have seen it before."

"Why?" Zelda prompted, sitting back on her heels.

"From my Loftwing, that was one of the areas that was very cloudy. I couldn't see through it. Although the glowing light will fix that, it probably means that the weather there is at a constant. We got a little bit of snow last winter in the woods, but this might be covered in snow if it's cold enough there."

Link bit his lip in thought.

"Do you have anything for the cold?" Zelda asked. "Like the earrings for the heat?"

"No, but…" Link said. "Even then…"

Link looked to Zelda. He didn't want to say it and he didn't have to.

"Link, I have to go," she argued. "It's my memories. Without me, there's no point."

"I know," he said as he ran his hand up his face until it braced his forehead. "I know."

He gave a sigh.

"This is crazy."

"What potions do you have?" Zelda asked. "Maybe those will help."

"The guardian potion will deflect you from harm," Link said. "It should deflect from the cold as well. Think of it as a protective coating."

"How long does it last?"

"How long does it need to last?" Link asked.

"When getting a memory, I'm usually out for hours at most."

Link shook his head.

"I don't know. If you don't take damage, it doesn't go away, and the same goes for the positive, but the cold would likely wear at it more gradually. I'd say a few hours."

"Do you have two?"

"Yeah," Link said in reply. "I guess I could have you take one and if you need more time, you can take another one."

"What about you?" Zelda said with a furrowed brow.

Link shrugged.

"Maybe I'll start a fire."

"Link," she started with a shake of her head.

"I have heart potions," he said. "I'll be fine."

"You're right," Zelda said in agreement. "This is crazy."

* * *

**Author's Note: So, a bit of context just in case.**

**In "One Moment", the predecessor to this fic that covers the events of Skyward Sword, a portion of it details Zelda's adventure that we only get glimpses of in the credits. In the fic, I have Zelda getting three memories, one at each of the places she visits, which is the Skyview Temple, the Earth Temple, and the Temple of Hylia (the past version of the temple at the Sealed Grounds). That's all you really need to know so if that context suffices for you to close the tab on this chapter for the day then go ahead.**

**But, if you'd like to know of the memories I refer to in this chapter, they are in "One Moment" chapters 12, 14, and 16.** **I don't know by how much but yes, my writing has definitely improved from that fic to this one. If you'd rather I'd summarize in my next Author's Note then just let me know but honestly it isn't much of a big deal. You only really need to know that she has gotten three memories in the past and the fourth one mentioned now is new (to Zelda) and plot-relevant. Maybe it's on me for not giving enough context in these chapters. Idk. Maybe I'm just tired and emotionally drained and so my anxiety is taking over. Probably that.**

**Anyways, you've paid attention to my words likely for longer than you would have liked. Thank you and have a nice day!**


	13. Together

It was as if it were calling to them as they flew closer, the beaming white light.

They couldn't see it at first. In fact, from high in the skies it looked as foggy as it always had.

Now it almost blinded them as they broke through the fog, Link's eyes widening to see a snowy tundra leading up to the mountain.

"I was right," he said, with a visible breath.

His teeth started to chatter as he trembled, clutching the reins of his Loftwing as if he could will himself to not be cold.

"Zel!" He called as he turned his head, the cold winds threatening to shut his eyelids completely. "Now is the time! Take the potion!"

"Not until you do!"

"Are you serious?!" Link yelled as her Loftwing dove to land on the top of the mountain.

Link followed suit with a shake of his head.

The mountain was surrounded by diagonal pillars of ice, Link flying until he saw the true source of the beaming light.

It was another statue of the goddess Hylia, surrounded, much like its' sisters, by none other than water. Beyond that were ruined columns, knocked over and covered and snow.

Yet in the very center the structure was intact, four columns holding a snow-laden covering.

"Zelda!" He called out as he landed, rushing after her. He could see she was shivering, her arms crossed and hugging each other tightly.

With hands on her shoulders, he turned her to face him. They both had chattering teeth, their cheeks and the bridge of their nose reddening.

"T-take the potion," Link said. "I swear to Hylia."

"What…w-what did I say about using that name in v-vain?"

Link barely listened, pulling the two potions from her pack.

"Z-zelda, now!" He commanded.

She took only one, holding it with a shaky hand.

The other went to the back of his head, making sure her eyes locked with his.

"We take this together, or not at all," she insisted.

"Zel…"

"We take this together, or not at all," she repeated, the way she said it making Link nod.

And, if he were being honest, he couldn't stand this cold anymore.

He brought his bottle to her lips as she brought hers to his. They closed their eyes and swallowed as they each felt a cold bottle tip warm liquid across their tongue and down their throats.

Link returned his gaze to her, Zelda nodding.

They both looked to the glowing statue as they took hands, them now walking forward cautiously.

"I'll be right here the whole time," Link said. "Don't forget that."

"I won't."

They stepped into the water, it wetting up to their knees as they waded forward as fast as the water would allow.

The shine on the statue of the goddess Hylia subsided as they came forward. Link brought his hands to her shoulders as she descended to her knees, the water now at her waist.

Zelda closed her eyes and felt one of Link's hands go from her shoulder to her stomach.

"Will it still work with me here?"

Zelda relented a soft smile. With her hands clasped at her heart, she mirrored the statue almost perfectly.

"Don't worry, Link," Zelda said. "I don't think Hylia's first mortal desire would get thrown off the mountain."

"You never know."

Zelda tried not to laugh, not to break her concentration, Link noticing immediately and keeping quiet.

"I come to you in reverence, much like before, but now with two others, as time has passed since Demise's defeat. Yet, I still seek your answers and your truths. You wanted to show me your greatest regret and I am ready to see it."

Zelda suddenly started to glow with a heavenly light, Link's eyes widening and his lips parting in his surprise.

"Wow," he said breathlessly.

* * *

It was an hour until the glowing golden light around her finally diffused, Zelda collapsing into Link's waiting arms.

"Zel?"

Her blue eyes drifted open lazily before they popped open.

Zelda crawled out of Link's hold so fast she splashed Link with cold water, practically racing away from the spring.

"Zelda, where are you going?" Link said as he followed her. "What did you see?"

"I remember where they were!" She exclaimed.

"The…the Sheikah?" Link asked. "How? You recognized the place in the memory?"

"Yes," Zelda said as she kept walking away, Link running and trudging along the snow in order to catch up to her.

"Zel, hold on," Link prompted, Zelda turning around. "Tell me about what you saw. The memory, what was it? What happened with the Sheikah?"

Zelda shook her head.

"Not…n-not now, I just…I have to go there first, I…I can't…I have to know."

"Hey," he said, his voice soothing as he brought a hand to take hers. "I understand. We can discuss it later. Where do you need to go?"

"Down the mountain and to the west," Zelda said. "It's not far."


	14. Displaced

Zelda stopped walking slowly, her heart quickening in fear and that eroding guilt settling upon her. Link, in contrast, had continued to walk like everything was normal.

"Link," she prompted.

"What?" He retorted casually, turning to her.

"This is it."

"This is what?"

The way her expression sank clued him exactly to what she meant, Link feeling something within himself as well.

Yet it was less of a guilt and more of an unsettling jolt as he looked around.

They were barely tents, now just knocked over plies with fabric laid over. Debris was askew everywhere he turned, small evidences of life and of livelihood that were now ruined.

"They never came back," Link ascertained. "They left in a hurry, they fought in the war, and they never came back."

"So it's true then," Link continued, turning to her. "What we always thought, what we were told."

Zelda's head was bowed, her hand latched on the elbow of her other arm.

"I know you wanted to find something else," Link said in her silence. "We both did. Groose will surely will upset and now we know that we spent so much time and risked so much only to have our worst and easiest suspicions confirmed…"

Link sighed.

"There are so many things we'll never know now," he kept talking, hoping at least something he said would help her sunken spirit. "But at least it's a confirmed truth. We know we wronged them and we can live the rest of our lives trying to prevent wronging people like that again, teach our child that death to achieve peace makes it no less tragic and no more right."

Zelda didn't move, her gaze unrelentingly on the floor before her. Link studied her with a deep concern in his eyes.

"Zelda, I really am sorry, but we've done all we co—"

Link stopped himself.

"Oh no," he voiced slowly.

Zelda looked up quickly.

"What?"

"I have a bad idea," Link said with shakes of his head.

The fearful warning in his eyes silenced Zelda, Link pursing his lips as he looked at her.

He quickly took off his pack, rummaging through it.

"I know I have it here somewhere," he said, practically buried in it.

His arms searched frantically until they stopped, Link pulling out a small purple crystal and turning to Zelda in his crouch.

"You," she started with a furrowed brow. "You TOOK a time-shift stone!"

"A long time ago," Link explained, "as a memento. It's just a piece."

"Well, come on," she said as she rushed forward. "In the woods the war has ended but in Lanayru the robots are still preparing for it. Maybe it's delayed here too."

She reached for it, but Link held it away with a raised brow. Zelda sat back on her heels with a pout.

"Do you know why I never told any of the robots that they would later fall into disrepair?" Link asked, with that slowness that only incurred Zelda's impatience. "Because that may have ruined future events. That's why I want you to promise me that we are doing this only to look. No bringing anyone or anything back, no accidentally leaving something, no accidentally taking something."

"Fine," she said as she reached for it again, Link keeping it out of her reach.

"Promise," he said with a raised eyebrow.

Zelda sighed as she sat back on her heels again.

"I promise."

"Okay," Link said as he stood up. Zelda did the same as he turned the small stone in his hand, thinking.

"I'm gonna put it in the center," he said. "Then when we are behind where the tents used to be, I'll strike it with my bow and arrow."

"I understand," Zelda said with a nod.

Link placed the stone in the center of the ruined village, taking a deep breath and backing away.

They crouched behind the supposed tent, Link in front of Zelda.

He looked back to make sure she was there, meeting her eyes with a shared concern and fear before his eyes drifted to her stomach.

Link inhaled to voice his concern.

"It's fine," Zelda said before he could. "Somehow…I can feel it's fine. Even then, the potion is still in effect."

Link nodded as he returned his gaze forward, taking out his bow and notching an arrow.

With a deep breath in, he pulled the string back, the arrow flying with his next exhale right into the small stone.

It started to glow as it rose from the ground, spinning and spinning as the light within it started to refract. It was as if the stone were about to explode until a white completely washed out its' color. Link took Zelda's hand.

It turned an aqua blue right as an energy pulsed from it, the blue line threatening to change everything it touched as the circle grew outwards.

First came a reclaimed grass, then their bags on the ground disappeared in a shimmering of rectangles. Before they knew it, the entire village was alive with bright colors, bustling within preparations, loud with voices.

Zelda crawled forward, them both peering around the corner of the tent with wide eyes.

The Sheikah were gathering, and they all looked so much like Impa it hurt to witness.

White hair, sometimes braided, sometimes with a hint of blonde, sometimes tucked underneath white wrappings. Their faces were painted with red and white patterns they barely recognized, only able to see that some of them had tears permanently painted underneath their eyes.

But they didn't know what it meant, the cultural significance, why red, why white, why a tear, why it was important, why they dressed themselves in blue and black. It wasn't just lives that were gone, that they were set to mourn, it was what filled them, their experiences, their worldview, their morality.

Link and Zelda knew nothing of the Sheikah, just their outward appearance, their actions on behalf of the goddess' war.

They knew they didn't know enough.

"Holy Hylia," Link said in a surprised whisper.

"Link, for the last time, don't—"

Link took a hand to cup her chin, turning her head in the direction he was looking.

"Holy Hylia," she said in the same whisper, her eyes widening.

Right where the Sheikah were gathering were the three people they were paying attention to, gathering to watch. The sight of them right here and now and in person stole Link and Zelda's breath completely.

It was the goddess herself, Hylia, blue eyes, blonde hair. She was taller than Zelda, with a slightly different shape to her face, but they carried themselves with the same purpose, the same elegance and regality.

Beside her was another marvel.

Link as he was then, or more correctly, the first chosen hero.

"Is that me?" Link whispered.

Zelda nodded.

"Hylia's first mortal desire," she said.

"Do you have to keep calling me that?" Link asked rhetorically, gazing at, well, himself.

"I don't look too bad, actually," he said, sizing himself up. "Just…older, slightly different…like a variation of me."

They craned to get a better look when Link realized he was covering most of Zelda's view. He tipped his head to the left, Zelda understanding immediately and rushing to the back of the next tent so they both had their own vantage point.

The last of the people standing was Impa in her youth, stoic as Link remembered, with a strength in her red eyes that Zelda still admired and treasured.

"I'll say one thing," Link remarked. "This is definitely not how I expected today to go."

Zelda didn't reply, studying the scene before her with narrowed eyes.

"Wait…" she said quietly.

"I think she's about to address them," Link said, obviously not hearing Zelda's comment. "We may be getting more answers than we bargained for."

Zelda's back met the tent quickly, hiding herself with panted breaths.

"Zel?" She heard him whisper. "What is it?"

She squinted her eyes with a slight wince in her expression.

"This is the memory."

Link's eyes widened, glancing from Zelda to Hylia, then back to Zelda, who was bracing herself with a distinct fear and sadness.

Figuring that would remain no matter what, he looked to the scene, eager to watch firsthand what had Zelda so upset.

"Thank you so much for your attention and respect," Hylia started. "I know this situation is unprecedented and your cooperation thus far gives me confidence that the humans and the Sheikah will meet in favorable consequence, even if not as a result of my efforts."

"I'm sure Impa has briefed you already on the situation," she continued. "Evil forces are growing stronger and closer and threaten to take something precious from us, as well the lives and consequent freedoms of my people."

"I know that your race has a proclivity against murder," Hylia said. "Your past regrets weigh as heavily and as permanently on your hearts as they do upon your skin. You believe strongly in murder with due reason, but you still count each and every one as a great loss and a great sacrifice. You take great pride in the power of having the capacity to kill, but not doing so, great pride in having the control to curb violent instincts and use them only when logic dictates. So, I understand that to ask you to kill beings for my war not only endangers your lives but goes against your very culture. I apologize for the suggestion, but I must argue that these are no beings that you would be fighting, that no beings are so atrocious, so vile, so malicious. These are the very automatons of evil that threaten my people and your carefulness and meticulousness in combat, if I may speak frankly, would give us a great advantage. Not to mention your aptitude in stealth."

"Why should we risk ourselves for your war?" A Sheikah in the front asked. "So your people are destroyed, what does that matter to us? If that is your fate, let it be so."

"How dare you speak to her like that!" Impa exclaimed. "You would be saving the lives of her people. It would be more than an equal trade for the monsters you would be—"

Hylia held up a hand to Impa.

"You are correct," Hylia said to the Sheikah in front. "Although I hoped it would be otherwise, the humans are currently of no matter to the Sheikah. They are illogical and passionate beings. They are greedy and they are prone to violence for violence's sake and that disgusts you. I assure you, as their goddess, it disgusts me too. But I love them as well. I love them because I feel that their innate kindness has the potential to outweigh that. I love their innocence, how brightly they see the world. Perhaps childish to you and me, they are curious beings at their core. They weigh the good and evil within themselves like we no longer have to. But, if they are destroyed, they will never get the chance for your respect, or for them to discover their own morality, whatever it may be. I hope it to be like yours."

"But if I haven't convinced you yet, of the human's potential, or the merit of my victory and what it would accomplish, I will say that this is not just a human problem. This will affect the entire land, the entire world. If you fight with me, you are fighting for your own freedom as well, for everyone to be united in opposition to a massive force that aims only to divide, simply because it has the power to. We have been granted the opportunity to change the fate of this world to be terminated in the name of hate and instead save it in the name of love and peace."

The Sheikah looked around amongst themselves in agreement before they bowed silently, Hylia gracing a soft smile.

"It seems they feel you have reason on your side," Impa said, as if speaking for them. "And so they will follow."

"You are my chosen guardians," Hylia said with a proud look. "For you to put your faith in me gives me great confidence. Thank you so much."

The Sheikah started to prepare for battle as Link looked to Zelda.

"We should go."

Zelda didn't move, shaking her head.

"This is not up for debate," Link reasoned. "They are spreading out among the village and there are dire consequences if any one sees us, even ourselves."

"No, no, I have to save them," Zelda implored, her eyes opening to his. "I wronged them…I forced their hand."

Link moved away, not heeding her words at all as he aimed his arrow at the floating stone above the village.

"No!" Zelda exclaimed as the arrow flew, but it struck the stone before she could even think of knocking the bow away from Link's grip, or pushing him to the ground, or taking the arrow herself.

Wait, no, that was an actual bad idea.

The past resorbed into the present, the stone returning to its purple hue and falling to the ground with a thud.

"We have to go back!" Zelda exclaimed as she ran forward, but Link was faster, scooping up the stone right as she reached for it.

"Give it back!"

Link held it behind his back.

"No, Zel!" He said. "You promised!"

"We have a chance to save them, Link," she said. "They are going to die anyway. We go back right now and we can do it! Take at least a male and a female so they can—"

"Stop!" Link yelled. "We can't do that!"

"Link…"

"No," he said. "No 'Link'. I absolutely cannot justify this."

"Saving lives?" Zelda asked. "You're the hero! My chosen hero!"

"And as your chosen hero," Link argued. "I've learned the hard lesson that you can't save everyone."

"But we can! Don't you see?"

"What if one of the people we take saved the life of Groose's ancestors?" Link argued. "Or mine? We can't risk that. It could have drastic affects on the timeline. We may not have eve—"

"What about the fruit?" Zelda interrupted.

"The fruit?"

"The fruit you told me you gave Lanayru. How is this any different than you using the fruit to save Lanayru? You took something from the past, put it somewhere it could thrive and not die and you saved a life because of it."

Link gave a sigh.

"Yes, that was to save Lanayru. But I did it because I knew that fruit had no purpose otherwise, there was no risk in that, only the potential gain."

"The Sheikah had a purpose and died for it," Link continued. "There's searching for answers but this would go way beyond that. This is not something to just play around with. An entire war would hang in the balance, Zel! Start it up again, risk us not winning and forget about our future, we really will be living in the past, with another war that lasts thousands of years."

"You don't know that for sure," argued Zelda.

"Neither do you," Link said. "That's why it's too risky."

Zelda started to cry, tears falling as Link took her in his arms quickly.

"They…they were there, Link," she said, blubbering. "They were right there."

"I know."

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I'm so, so sorry for them."

Link held her tighter, rubbing her back.

"You said this was Hylia's greatest regret," Link said. "And so by extension it's also yours. Zel, sometimes, you just have to live with your regret. We've been everywhere and we now have it confirmed that the Sheikah are in the past. Please let them stay there and rest. Groose will be sad, sure, but we did the best we could."

"I'll make it up to them," Zelda said.

"Zel…"

"I will," she insisted. "I'll never do that again, use the exact right words to convince people to die for me, it's immoral."

Link smiled, his head dropping into the crook of her neck.

"Yes, it's immoral."


	15. Concealment

**Author's Note: Okay so there was an error where Chapter 13 (Together) wasn't posted and I went along posting without noticing that my readers were without a chapter. I apologize for the mistake and have now fixed it, adding in chapter 13 (Together) between chapter 12 (Wisdom) and chapter 14 (Displaced). They are now where they belong and where they were always supposed to be. I assure you that these chapters are planned to be sequential and I would never intentionally deceive my readers by placing new chapters in places where they would have to backtrack. Hopefully your reading experience** **hasn't been detracted too much by this error.**

**I'd also like to apologize to user cmm931 who left a comment (that made my day) on Chapter 14 that has now been deleted because I had to delete and repost the chapter as chapter 14 and not 13.**

**Again, so sorry for making this difficult. I hope you have a nice day!**

* * *

"So, what do you think is in there?"

If not for the two Skyloftian knights in front of it, the base of the statue of the goddess Hylia likely would have kept its' silence.

"I don't know," the other guard said.

"I'm not talking about know, I'm talking about think."

He turned his head.

"How about it's a sacred temple and we're protecting it? Like we were told?"

"But from who?"

"How am I supposed to know? Ask Pipit after our shift if you're so curious."

"We never had to guard it when it was in Skyloft. Obviously it's something else. There's no consequences to someone walking around a holy temple."

"Oh yeah?" he started jokingly. "The goddess Hylia could smite you off the face of Hyrule."

"Hylia doesn't smite."

The other guard sighed before saying,

"There's a first time for everything."

A silence fell.

"Have you ever tried to go in there?"

"Of course not."

"But you wanted to?"

"Are you physically incapable of shutting up?!"

The curious guard pursed his lips, returning his gaze forward, but he couldn't help it.

He walked from his post to the archway that was presumably the entrance, placing a hand on it and studying it.

"It's a solid wall," he ascertained, giving it a slight push.

"You're not getting in there."

"I'm just curious."

"Replace your curiosity with vigilance please."

"Alright, alright," the guard said, returning to his post.

"But who are they protecting it from?" He asked, his annoying question grating on the other guards ears, him exhaling a sigh. "It's obvious no one is trying to get in here."

"Except you, for some reason."

The annoyed guard feigned a gasp.

"That's it."

"What? What?"

He was more than eager, obviously not catching the sarcasm.

"They're trying to protect it from you, yes it all makes sense now."

"Wait, what?"

"Think about it, you're obviously not qualified for this job. They only gave it to you because the obligation will keep you from breaking in."

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm qualified. I had the same training as you."

"Then shut up."

The breeze shifted and the guard, although annoyed, couldn't help but inwardly forgive his counterpart for his curiosity. A lot of what was happening didn't make sense.

"Do you think it's strange?"

"What's strange?"

"How quickly Link and Groose were made knights. They even outrank us and they didn't finish their training at the Knight Academy."

"I figured Link was favoritism, but I don't about know Groose."

"Not to say they're not capable, but…I don't know it just seems fishy. They disappear from Skyloft completely and suddenly they're full-on knights and there's this surface and Skyloft traditions don't matter anymore?"

"Groose would have been made a knight at the end of that summer anyway," he argued. "No matter who won the Wing Ceremony."

"But immediately promoted above knights who have been protecting the skies for years? I don't…H-hey, Pipit!"

The strapping young man flew down on his yellow Loftwing, landing with large flaps before he slid off. The guards immediately stood up straight.

"Tarvin, Driss," Pipit said in greeting, his yellow bird patiently in wait to take him elsewhere. "At ease. I'm just making the rounds. How's it going?"

"Fine, sir," Tarvin replied, "no problems."

"That's good to hear," Pipit said.


	16. Skyward

"I forgot how uncomfortable those beds are," Link said as he stretched with his arms up, his heels almost coming off the floor until he relaxed.

Zelda closed the door behind her, completely entering the hallway of the Knight Academy.

"I'm still surprised Father didn't give my room to someone else."

"Like he did mine?"

"I mean," Zelda said with a slight laugh. "Did he think it wouldn't work out between us?"

"No," Link said, pulling her to his side with his arm around her back. "Of course not. I think he just misses having his daughter close, and wants you to feel like you can always come and visit."

"I should tell him to let someone else use it," Zelda said as they strolled along. "I know that was my childhood room, him being headmaster all those years and all, but…I don't live here anymore. Someone else should use it who does."

"Well, keep in mind that other people may not live here much longer either," Link reasoned. "In the next couple years we could very well see the entirety of Skyloft living down in Hyrule."

"True," Zelda said as Link released his arm to open the wooden doors for her.

"Link," she said with a smile. "I'm more than capable of opening the door."

"I know," Link said as he held it open for her, Zelda walking into the sunny Skyloft day. "J-just in case. What's wrong with a chivalrous hero?"

"More like a concerned father," Zelda said.

"One and the same," Link said before pecking her cheek and taking her hand, them walking along their childhood home of Skyloft.

"You look beautiful today by the way," Link said. "I remember that dress."

"Thank you," Zelda said, a blush gracing her cheeks. "I figured I may as well wear it before it no longer fits."

"You'd look beautiful either way, Zel."

Zelda bumped into him playfully, bowing her head slightly and smiling.

They walked and they walked, slowly and casually, past the Blessed butterflies, the Light Tower, across the bridge until they met their destination.

"I hope it isn't too early," Zelda said as she knocked on the door.

"Better than the time we flew in last night," commented Link.

"Yes?" A voice hollered from inside before the door opened with a creak.

Gondo's mother had a rather strong build, which was easily accompanied by her rough exterior to strangers. Her yellow eyes, taut white hair, and hard expression usually kept people at a distance. But to Zelda and Link, who she had known since they were born, she was a lot like her son, open and kind. Although she really had no interest in how he tinkered with all sort of weapons and mechanisms, the resemblance was uncanny.

"We don't have an appointment but we were wondering…"

"Yes, yes come in," Greba said with a gesture.

"Now, what can I do for you," she said, looking between the two of them where they sat. "Are you feeling sick? You know there's a nasty cough going around."

"No, were fine," Zelda insisted. "We're actually here about—"

"The pregnancy!" Greba exclaimed, suddenly remembering. "I'm so sorry, I nearly forgot."

"That's okay," Zelda said.

"No worries, I'll get you checked up and out of here in no time."

* * *

"So, she's fine?" Link asked

"Yes, she and the embryo are completely healthy," Greba said. "Four weeks along and it's all going perfectly."

Link exhaled a sigh.

"What a relief," Link said as he took Zelda's hand. "Is there anything we should be on the lookout for? To avoid things going…imperfectly?"

"Although I don't expect it because of your age, problems usually arise within the first three months. What you've done over the past month was indeed a risk, but if you are referring to miscarriage, you are still pregnant and, without any signs of miscarriage, you will likely remain so. Unless there is something wrong that I can't tell, you seem to be on track for a healthy and normal pregnancy. Don't do anything too strenuous or dangerous, but still keep active. The most important thing is to listen to your body."

"Of course," Zelda said with a nod.

"I go down to your surface every two weeks for Karane, but if you want I can check up on you as well. I don't recommend flying any more unless you absolutely have to."

"Yes, that sounds great."

"Understood."

"Thanks for today," Zelda said, reaching into her pouch as her and Link both stood up. "We can pay you."

"No, of course not," she said with a shake of her head. "Anything for my favorite new parents."

"What about Karane and Pipit?"

"Old news," Greba said. "You two are all everyone's been talking about."

Zelda chuckled nervously.

"So everyone knows, huh?"

"It's a small island," she replied. "And you two have been in the public eye ever since you started flirting at the Academy."

Link and Zelda shared a glance before they left, a small bashful smirk that teased a giggle.

Exchanging a goodbye with Greba, they went on their way, crossing the bridge towards the square.

"Crazy, huh?" Link asked.

"What do you mean?"

"That we got it on the first try, I mean…it's still hard for me to believe that we're gonna have a baby."

"I know, me too."

"Well," Link said. "Now that we're done with our quest, it's just going to be you taking it easy."

Zelda took the hand he offered as they approached the tower.

"I don't want anything going wrong," he continued.

"Nothing will go wrong, Link," Zelda said. "And honestly if it could get through all of that, these next eight months should be smooth flying."

"Figuratively, right?" Link asked. "I want to limit you flying as much as possible. Like this trip down and that's it."

"Anything you say," Zelda said before she kissed him on the cheek, her arms wrapped around of one his.

Link turned his head with a smile, kissing her back even as a wind started to blow upon them. Their lips were locked in their shared distraction until Link heard the squawk of a panicked Loftwing almost directly in his ear.

He turned casually until his eyes widened, rushing forward towards the yellow bird in distress.

"Whoa!" He said with a cautious, outstretched head. "Whoa! Where's your rider?"

Link was able to soothe the bird, even if slightly, his hands gently on its' neck.

"Link, that's…that's Pipit's bird!"

"It is?" Link retorted, giving it good look.

"Something's wrong," Zelda said as she walked forward, bringing a hand to its' beak and up to stroke its' forehead.

"Can you lead us to him?" Zelda asked the Loftwing, Link whistling for his own.

A Crimson Loftwing landed as the yellow one spread its' wings, Link quickly mounting his Loftwing and holding out a hand to Zelda.

"Link, I…I'm really worried," she said as she sat directly in front of him. Link repositioned his legs and grabbed hold of the reins so that one arm was on either side of her. "For a Loftwing to come back without its rider…"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Link said as both birds took flight, diving to the Surface below.


	17. Perfection Amiss

**Author's Note: The following words of this Author's Note are my official statement on the current state of America as of today, June 2nd, 2020 and my role as a content creator. Below the line is chapter 17 of A Moment Beyond if you wish only to read the chapter.**

**I could very well stop posting. I can and am willing to halt updates to this fic in order to draw your attention elsewhere. I have not been told so but if going about all this as normal and planned is insensitive to the current situation in my country then please let me know and I will pause updates until it is appropriate.**

**Without the moniker of fatefulfaerie, my voice is small and unimportant. I am white and although I have been educated to some extent I firmly believe that education, especially when it comes to matters such as this, is something that compounds and does not end. That being said, I am frankly uneducated in comparison to how much I could be and how much other people are and I understand that as a deficiency. On my own, I am nothing to the centuries of suffering of minorities. I understand and feel their pain, but not to the extent that they feel their own pain. That is impossible. I have no right to speak for that.**

**But, I must acknowledge that by posting words as fatefulfaerie I am speaking. I am speaking in this time words perhaps not meant for this time and words that may not only replace other words but also replace your own time. Your time is precious and you can do much with it. The power of the individual is great.**

**I kept quiet on the matter last chapter because as someone who is white, I feel that others need to be heard more than me. That was until I realized that merely by posting I was being heard. I understand that I don't have much of a platform nor a following, that I am not educated enough on the matter to be any sort of ambassador for what justice should be, and that if I get too political I may lose your patience. I understand all those things. The reasons I posted are the reasons I always post.**

**First, I believe that there is value in escapism. Some people, like me, are separated from loved ones and need content like this to spur their imagination, to see love, fellowship, and hope in a literary form.**

**Second, the words in my writing are chosen very carefully. I believe there is deep meaning to the stories I write, and that each story is imbued with some moral. The Forgotten Hero, for instance, is about not giving up on yourself and other people. Ten Thousand Years Ago is about the multi-layered dangers of wielding power. This fic is about the intricacies of influence but it is also about hope and perseverance in the face of adversity. It is about family and friendships and that is why I think it is important. I am more than willing to continue.**

**But if those reasons are outweighed by the necessity for other words in the world to be heard, I am willing to delay this fic being updated as normal. As a content creator and influencer I can urge you to oppose racism and the system that upholds it, to support in any way you can communities and businesses that lack support, but I can't force you and that's your choice. If I need to keep a respectful silence because my story drowns other voices with more to say, I will happily step aside for the time being. It will weigh on my heart, but never as much as the weight on the hearts of minorities since times before my conception and before even the conception of my country. My influence is small, but if this story is inconsequential and insensitive to the current situation, then please let me know.**

**Thank you for your patience,**

**-fatefulfaerie**

* * *

"Oh no," Zelda said as the scene became clear below them.

"He's hurt," Link said, them landing quickly and sliding off.

Pipit was laying on his back and seething in pain, a Skyloftian knight Link remembered as Driss treating a wound on his leg.

"What happened?" Link asserted as they rushed to kneel at his side.

"Link…" Pipit said breathlessly.

"I…I don't know," Driss said as he held a cloth to the bleeding. "It all happened so fast. One second we were talking to Pipit and next thing we knew there was an arrow in his leg."

"An arrow?" Zelda asked.

"Where did it come from?" Link inquired.

"Somewhere high," he replied, starting to shake his head. "We didn't see anybody. Tarvin went to go look around but…it was like they were invisible."

As if on queue, Tarvin came around the side of the Statue of the goddess with a shake of his head.

"No one," he said, stopping and crossing his arms.

"That doesn't make any sense," Driss whispered to himself.

Zelda and Link looked to each other quickly, a shared question in their eyes that they feared.

"I-I'll take over with his wound," Zelda commanded. "Link, go get Groose."

Link nodded, mounting his Loftwing.

She looked to the two knights and continued,

"You two, get Greba and then stay in Skyloft. Tell her Pipit needs immediate medical attention."

"We only take orders from—"

"I order you to do what she says," Link interrupted authoritatively, his Loftwing gaining height with growing flaps.

"Y-yes sir," they immediately said, calling their own Loftwings and flying off.

Link did the same in another direction.

Now pressing on the rag, Zelda lifted it up with a wince at the sight of blood. Pipit winced as well.

The arrow was still there and she was just trying to stop the bleeding until it could be removed properly.

"My leg," he said breathlessly, trying to look at it.

"I know," Zelda said with a sigh. "Just hang on."

Pipit dropped his head back down with a thud and sigh.

"What did you find?" He asked. "Out there?"

"What?" Zelda said, her glance not moving from the injury.

"I'm trying to keep my mind off the fact that there's an arrow in my leg."

"We…we found some answers," Zelda said.

"Good," Pipit said.

"Does Link know he's gonna be a father?"

Zelda smiled and nodded quickly.

"Yes."

Pipit smiled as much as he could.

Zelda suddenly heard the flapping of wings, looking up for a sense of relief to wash over her.

She really needed to learn anything about treating wounds.

"Over here!" She exclaimed, Greba running over as fast as she could and replacing Zelda where she knelt.

"Do you need me to do anything?"

"Yes," Greba said as she inspected the wound, "the white potion, quickly. It'll make it easier for him."

Zelda fumbled for it in the bag Greba had by her side, tilting it slowly into Pipit's mouth.

Greba afforded a single glance over.

"Good," she said.

"Zel!"

Zelda stood up. In the distance, Groose and Link had just landed.

"I have it from here," Zelda heard Greba say. "Go ahead."

Zelda hurried to them much like they hurried to her.

"I told him quickly on the way over," Link said almost immediately. "That it appeared the Sheikah all died in the war. Now with this maybe they didn't."

"It must be the Sheikah," Zelda said, trying to curb her excitement. "Driss mentioned something about them being near invisible and the Sheikah were adept in stealth. We have to assume this a mistake on the Sheikah's part."

"Zel, this is a threat," Link argued. "It can't be a mistake. Pipit could have died."

"No," Pipit croaked where he lay, pulling their attention. "If they wanted to kill me they would have. This must have been a warning."

"A warning about what?" Zelda questioned as Link looked around suspiciously, eyeing the base of the goddess Statue. "If they truly intended to avenge their fallen generation, why not attack us directly?"

"Not a warning," Link said, narrowing his eyes, "a distraction."

Link started a run to where he was looking, Zelda following suit along with Groose.

Zelda watched as Link knelt down, running his hand along the grass and tracing small dented sections. He knew the patterns of typical Skyloftian knight boots well, but these in particular were much smaller and lighter.

"Someone was here," he said in a shocked revelation. He looked to Zelda with wide eyes as he stood back up.

"That's not possible," Zelda said as she shook her head, like a response to an unspoken statement between them.

Link unsheathed his sword, Groose doing the same behind them.

"We have to make sure," Link said to Zelda, who was already wringing her hands together.

She gave a couple quick nods, fearfully gazing at the secret entrance before holding out her right hand.

The illusion soon diffused, the archway revealing its' entry only seconds before Link and Zelda rushed in, Pipit and Groose anticipating with a heavy heart their exclamation.

Yet they only heard silence in the moment that followed.

"Link!" Groose exclaimed. "What happened?! Is it there?! The Triforce?!"

"It…" they heard Link say in response.

"It's…gone!" Zelda exclaimed.


	18. Exposed

**Author's Note: I have decided to continue. I have decided to look at my work not as a white voice that disrespects other voices but as a voice of hope that has the power to instill something special into my readers. I am no Tolkien, no Lewis, no Rowling, and certainly no Collins. This story will inspire no change. This story will not speak in the place of others. This story will not extend beyond itself. I do not have that power.**

**But if I make you smile for just a second, if I make you cry maybe just a little, even if I hurt you, build you up and tear you down, then I have served my purpose. If I make you think, if I make you emote, if I challenge your sense of morality, if I reinstall your faith in love, then you have no idea how much that means to me. The day I found out my words had potency and power, that day two years ago when I became the smallest fraction of my literary heroes, that was the first day I knew I had a purpose. And if in these dark times I don't at least try to use that power to bring light and to bring hope, then I have disappointed myself. This fictional story is nothing, an amateur attempt at writing, but if it affects you it is everything to me.**

**I am not ignoring what is happening by posting. I strive to keep myself aware, and you should too, but this story will speak as originally intended. Although the state of the world needs aid and clarity and education and for the right people to speak and be heard, all of that will not affect this fic. I have a story to tell and if you stick with me until the happy ending of this fic and the happy ending of this world, I offer you everything I can. It's a long road to both and I hope with all my heart that the latter comes before the former.**

**-fatefulfaerie**

* * *

Link staggered forward at the loss, scuffling to his knees once he reached the empty pedestal. He bowed his head as Zelda stood speechless and motionless.

She didn't know what to do. This was her divine power to protect and it was gone in minutes. By the Sheikah, no less, the race she wanted so much to trust.

Now she found herself wishing they had died heroes, that they hadn't survived to act so vengefully.

Link brought a hand to the column of the pedestal, Zelda taking a couple echoing footsteps forward.

"We have no idea where they are," Link started. "They have the advantage of working in the shadows, and having our light does nothing to illuminate them."

"A whole year of searching, mapping out Hyrule," Zelda added. "Trying to find them and…we were right here for them to steal from. With that Triforce, they could do unthinkable things. They shouldn't even have been able to touch it…how…how could they have taken it so—"

Zelda stopped at the sight of Link's hand, glowing in response to the residual essence of the Triforce.

"Link!" she exclaimed as she rushed forward, her husband barely given the time to react before her hands grasped his. She was looking at the back of his hand analytically, deep in a new-fangled shock she was only beginning to process.

"There…there's only one, Link," she said as Link took a deep breath. "Only one triangle. How…how could they have—"

She had looked to him at her last question, dropping his hand completely at the sight of his expression.

"You…you knew about this…" she said as she shook her head slowly, backing away.

"Zelda," he said with a step forward. "I can explai—"

"You did!" She exclaimed, in her expression hues and shades of betrayal.

"No," Link said with a fleeting glance from the empty pedestal, then back to her. "No, Zelda, it's not what you think."

"How could you?!"

"Please, let me explain," he said slower.

Zelda's eyebrows furrowed, feeling something festering within her that she wanted to deny.

"I didn't know about the Triforce, okay?" he asked slowly and rhetorically, with two hands held out in defense. "I'm just as shocked as you, about that and the Sheikah."

"The triangles on my hand," he continued. "They disappeared…I don't know why and I don't know how."

"When," Zelda prompted, her voice sharp and low.

"After the battle with Demise," Link admitted, Zelda closing her eyes with an exhale. "That was when power went away, and wisdom…I noticed after our wedding night."

Zelda opened her eyes with a glare. She didn't need to say a word.

"I was scared, okay?" Link admitted. "I didn't know what it meant…and I knew I should have told you, but I…well I was so happy to see you safe…and then more and more time passed…and then the second one went away and…I got more scared…I…I'm so sorry."

"You lied to me," she started, her voice cold. "For over a year."

Link sighed.

"Yes."

"And when I kept from you that I was with child, you scolded me for _keeping a secret_ and _endangering myself_."

Link bit his lip at the reminder before he hung his head in submission.

"Yes."

Zelda hugged her arms close to her chest in the silence that followed, neither of them knowing that Pipit and Groose were indeed eavesdropping.

"There are books on the Triforce," she said quietly, with a hidden anger ready to emerge. "That we put to the side when looking for evidence of the Sheikah. Karane and I will go through them again while you get the Triforce back."

She turned on her heel quickly, as if she were a Princess, giving orders to a knight before walking away.

Link watched her go with regret in his eyes.

He shouldn't have kept it from her. What was he thinking?

When he slowly walked from the temple the door reappeared behind him, Link watching her silhouette until it flew off on her purple Loftwing. Her flight lacked speed and was kept level. She was going home.

He suddenly noticed Pipit and Groose to the left of him, with the most obvious nonchalance he had ever seen.

Link didn't have the energy for them, for anyone really, turning his head and walking past them.

* * *

Link slung his bag over his shoulder as he watched her, completely engrossed in the book on her desk. No twitch, no movement that signified that she knew he was about to leave.

No, it wasn't that she didn't know, it was that she didn't care.

Link started to extend his hand to touch her shoulder before it retreated back, his eyes saddening and his head bowing.

He soon changed his mind, not a word passing his lips as he huffed to the exit, walking through the door and closing it behind him.

Zelda looked to the door as soon as she heard it latch close, considering for only a second what she wanted before she stood up.

With purpose and determination she strode towards the door, grasping the knob with the full intention of turning it.

But she never did.


	19. At A Loss

Link exhaled as soon as he closed the door behind him.

This is ridiculous, he figured, raising his fisted hand to knock on the door.

But once again, he changed his mind, heading down the stairs.

Groose was in the kitchen, head hung over the map on the table, hands braced along the edges. He looked up when Link silently stood across from him, studying the map, its empty holes.

"You okay?" Groose asked.

"No," Link said in reply.

"Yeah," Groose said solemnly as he looked down at the map, "yeah, me neither."

Link massaged the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes before they opened again. His hand moved to rub his forehead as he looked at the map.

"Well there's the area west of Death Mountain, and we could always look more into the beaches west of Faron, umm…"

"What about here?" Groose asked, his fingers trailing along. "What's this?"

Link placed his hand back down.

"That's the mountain we went to," Link said, pointing, "and that's the old village."

"We could investigate that more too," Groose suggested.

"Add it to the list," Link said with a sigh. "And then of course there's basically ALL of what's north of Lanayru."

Link started to shake his head.

"This could take months!" He exclaimed as he threw a his hands palm-first on the table. "We have absolutely no idea where they are! What if they do something with it before we find them?!"

"Don't worry, you'll find them, you want to know why?"

"Why?" Link asked dryly. Groose came around to Link's side of the table.

"Because you have your old buddy Groose," the burly knight said as he put his arm around him, moving him slightly back and forth.

Link sighed.

"I guess we scan from the skies and then meet up here to discuss what we found," Link said, pointing at the very top of the known Lanayru region. "If it's nothing, we continue North and, Hylia help us, find those damn Sheikah before they damn us all."

Groose hit Link on the back enthusiastically, Link nearly coughing his lunch up right on the table.

"That's the spirit," Groose said as Link recovered. "You all packed and ready to go?"

"Yeah," he said his voice strained. "Yeah, let's go."

* * *

**Author's Note: Shortest chapter of the whole fic and last short chapter for a while.**


	20. Rendezvous

Groose licked his hand to restyle his hair-do, knowing the wind surely already frizzed it in ways that ruined the perfect way it curled upwards.

It was the only drawback to flying around, the meticulous maintenance and upkeep of his hair.

"Just cut it off," he heard behind him, Link landing his Loftwing and stepping off.

"Over my dead body," Groose said, resting his elbows on his knees and looking to Link behind him.

"Can I have that in writing?" Link asked rhetorically, his Loftwing flying off as he approached Groose. "You get a nice comfortable rock and I have to sit on the ground?"

"Finders keepers," Groose argued as Link sat down in front of him, even though he knew Link was being sarcastic. "I got here first. I get dibs."

"Did you find anything?" Link asked.

"Aside from some odd geography, no, nothing in the slightest," Groose replied. "You?"

Link sighed. He shook his head 'no'.

"They've taken a great deal of care to hide themselves from us," Link said. "Searching from the sky is hopeless. Unless they were truly dumb and had the Triforce out in the open like we used to, we're not going to find them from above. They're too smart."

"True," Groose said with a couple nods. "Actually, I didn't find anything abnormal but I was thinking…they probably don't have Loftwings."

"So?" Link asked.

"So they might be closer to the Sealed Temple than we think," Groose reasoned. "Sure they may have traveled far to take the Triforce, but to hide it so quickly afterwards…if they were journeying far, no matter how they're transporting it, we would have seen its light."

"You think we should check the beaches first?" Link asked.

Groose nodded.

"I think it's likely," he added. "I also think it's very possible they may be hiding underground. The only other structures I saw were either our own or temples. I gather that going through those again isn't on any wish list of yours."

"No, but we'll add them to the list of things to check out," Link said. "If we are going to start inwards and gradually search farther out maybe we make sure they're not at the Skyview Temple or the Ancient Cistern, then we can search along the Southern beaches."

"Also we have to keep in mind that whatever entrance they may have may be intended to not be found," said Groose. "Searching these places, we have to be extra careful not to gloss over anything."

Link nodded.

"Sounds like a plan. We can start tomorrow morning. Until then, however, I'm exhausted."

Link stood up to make camp, Groose shifting to more casual conversation.

"So how was the goodbye?" Groose asked. "Your usual tragic-romance variety or did you two finally settle for a normal one."

"We are not tragic," Link argued. "Besides there…wasn't one…a goodbye, I mean."

"Bring on the melodrama," Groose mumbled.

"Zelda and I are a normal couple most of the time, Groose."

"Sure, sure," Groose said, not believing it.

"Why no goodbye?" Groose asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

Link sighed.

"She doesn't want to talk to me."

"Yes, she does," Groose stated simply.

Link shook his head.

"I messed up," Link said. "I know you heard. I got scared and I kept something to myself, something she should have known. I completely understand where her anger is coming from. I wouldn't want to talk to me either."

"Look, I'm not going to give relationship advice when I have way less experience, but…"

"But you will anyway," Link said, Groose giving him a glare.

"I'm only trying to help," he said.

Link exhaled a sigh before gesturing with his hand for him to continue.

"But…" Link prompted.

"But," Groose started again. "Your and Zelda's relationship is based a lot on actions. I'm not saying you guys don't communicate, but the way you show your love is primarily through the ways it was built, chivalry, displays of affection, touches, tangible things you can depend on. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that. In fact, I'm more than happy that you two have each other to depend on after everything. But when it comes to talking things out, sometimes you fall short."

"Groose, Zelda and I wouldn't have gotten married if we hadn't been able to communicate. Of course we talk to each other."

"Sure, but that's why I said sometimes," Groose continued. "It's just when it comes to situations like this that need words that don't come easily, you two just wait instead for the other to perform some grand gesture, like, oh I don't know, coming back with the Triforce safe and secure?"

"Do you not want the Triforce safe and secure?" Link retorted.

"Yes, but why not go to Zelda and talk out your problems first."

"It's like I said," Link said. "Until I get the Triforce back, she doesn't want to talk to me. And even if you'd disagree or I'm wrong, then Zelda and I would spend the whole time worrying. I'd rather be out here, looking for the Triforce, doing something so that this blows over and we can all just…"

"Live our lives?" Groose suggested.

"Yeah," Link replied. "I just need to get the Triforce back, then everything will go back to normal."

"I wouldn't be so sure about normal."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Aside from the fact that she now sees you as a liar and a hypocrite."

"Thanks."

"You two are going to have a child. Everything is going to change."

Link's eyes flitted downwards.

"Groose…what if…what if she doesn't…doesn't want me to…"

Link couldn't even bring himself to say it.

"That's not possible, Link," Groose assured him, somehow knowing exactly what he was referring to.

"I can't lose her, Groose…I just can't," Link said. "I have to fix this so she'll…"

"If you finish that sentence with 'love me' I swear to Hylia herself I'll push you off a cliff."

Link's nose gave way to a sniffle.

"That's not necessary."

* * *

Morning breached calmly, the sun rising with no hesitance upon Hyrule and whisking away the starry night.

Groose had woken up early, and soon realized that as long as they were out here looking for the Triforce, he would have to be the one to wake the sleepy head Link.

Great.

He was much less gentle than someone like Zelda, who might brush his cheek or employ her soft lips, which probably wouldn't coax him to awaken in the slightest.

After standing over him, studying his sleeping frame with hands on his hips, Groose decided on kicking him. It took three for Link to grumble something incoherent, and another for him to sit up saying,

"Okay, I'm up," with his messy bedhead.

"I need you to call your Loftwing so I can mount the rest of the provisions before we head to the Ancient Cistern."

"Mm."

"Now," Groose commanded.

"We're the same rank," Link argued.

"I don't care," Groose said, Link putting his fingers to his mouth and whistling.

The Loftwing soon landed next to Groose's, ready and waiting to assist.

"There," Link said as he stood up, rolling up his blanket and tossing it on the pile of things Groose hadn't packed yet.

Link sat down on the rock, massaging and rubbing his face to wake himself up. He needed to be more than alert if they were going to look in every nook and cranny for the Triforce, for some secret entrance to the Sheikah's hideout, or anything else that would clue them.

"Here," Link heard Groose say before a light edge patted his cheek and then landed on his lap.

"What's this?" Link asked, picking up a thick piece of white paper. Groose crossed his arms.

"I brought a whole bunch so I could send letters to Orielle," Groose said. "You should write one to Zelda."

"Groose, I told you last night she doesn't—"

"Upbupup," Groose interrupted. "I don't need to hear the sob story again. I see it as a win-win-win situation. You get practice with your words and Zelda worries less because of it."

"How do you win?" Link asked.

"Less melodrama to deal with," Groose said, Link leveling him with a glare.

But he broke the glare and sighed, pulling out a pencil and hovering it over the paper in thought.

He felt Groose looking over his shoulder, which is why he turned on the rock he sat so that Groose couldn't see. Groose walked away with a smirk.

_'Zel,_

_I love you_

_-Link'_


	21. Correspondence

"Okay, so you're telling me that didn't give you nightmares?"

"No, not really," Link said.

"But Ghirahim did?"

"Groose, he wanted to take Zelda, that's terrifying."

Groose stopped walking, pointing back into the Ancient Cistern.

"There was a literal mountain of bones down there!"

Link shrugged, continuing to walk on.

"All my life I will never understand you," Groose said as he caught up with him.

"How long do you think we were in there?" Link asked.

"Few days, maybe a week," Groose said. "Hard to tell without the skies."

"Well the world hasn't ended yet," Link said. "Maybe they never planned on using the Triforce."

"Why else would they steal it?" Groose reasoned. "The power to have whatever you desire, it's—"

Link looked right at him.

"N-not tempting at all, no," he corrected.

Link jumped in the water to get to the other side, Groose following suit before they crawled out onto the clearing that could either lead to Faron Woods or the dragons' chambers.

"Well, we can cross the Ancient Cistern off the list," Groose said. "Nothing hidden in there except nightmare fuel."

"Right," Link said discouraged, his head downcast.

"Would you look at that?"

"What?" Link asked as he looked to Groose, who was looking up at the skies. He followed his gaze.

A Crimson Loftwing and a Navy Loftwing were headed right for them with letters in their beaks.

"She wrote back," Link said, slightly surprised.

"Of course she did," Groose said as the Loftwings landed.

Link slipped the note from the Loftwing's beak, petting and soothing the red-feathered neck as he smiled at the envelope.

It was Zelda all right, her initial in the bottom left corner, the way it somehow smelled like her.

He opened it as Groose opened his, pulling the note out of the envelope. He closed his eyes with a deep breath in.

What if it was horrible? What if she hated him? So many spiteful words coming from her could hurt him. He deserved them, sure, but…

Link opened his eyes with an exhale, his gaze settling upon the words that were, if he were to be honest, few.

_'Link,_

_I love you, too_

_-Your Zel'_

Link smiled, a chuckle of disbelief. He should have written more.

He figured he could remedy it now, taking out a pencil and paper and writing.

Link stood up and placed it in the Loftwing's beak once he finished, ruffling its' feathers playfully before stepping back and letting it fly off to its' destination.

"See, look at that smile," he heard Groose say. "Communication, I'm telling you."

"It's really not that much different," Link argued.

"We shall see," Groose said, walking towards Faron Woods. "One day my wisdom will illuminate you and you'll thank me."

"Wisdom is a very strong word," Link said as they continued into Faron Woods.

"So, Orielle, huh?" Link asked, changing the subject. "How's that going?"

"It's going," Groose said. "I finally got her brother off my back and I think he even tolerates me a little."

"That's good," Link added.

"It's no over-the-top-saving-her-from-a-ghastly-demon-all-the-while-being-the-reincarnation-of-a-prior-soulmate or anything but I really like her."

"It doesn't have to be over-the-top," Link said. "Normal is good."

* * *

"So, what can I expect here?" Groose asked, him and Link facing the entrance to the Skyview Temple. The doors were open, just as Link left it, mysterious fauna tunneling down into the dark abyss with stone steps leading downwards into it. "More spiders?"

"More spiders," Link said with a nod. "The Bokoblins and Moblins are the only monsters that are gone with Demise and Ghirahim's absence. Be thankful you didn't have to deal with the ones in the Ancient Cistern."

"I'll take your word for it," Groose retorted. "Anything else?"

"Keese, Stalfos, Hydras, and Deku Babas," Link said. "Nothing you haven't faced before."

"Good to know," Groose said as he walked forward, down the steps.

But Link looked behind him quickly, thinking he heard something, felt something. He studied the canyon, the forestry in the distance, the silhouette of the large tree in Faron.

No one was there.

"Link! A little help!"

Link shook his head, subduing his fear and running down the stairs.

He turned the corner and immediately stifled a laugh, bringing a hand to his mouth.

"Hey!" Groose exclaimed. "I'm genuinely stuck here!"

Link tried not to laugh at Groose, stuck in a large web, the burly knight trying to wrangle himself out.

"You could help!"

"I wish I could capture this but even I can't draw that fast."

"Thank Hylia, now will you please HELP!"

"Yes, yes," Link said, unsheathing his sword and stepping forward.

"Some hero you are," Groose mumbled as Link cut the webs with his sword. Groose immediately and frantically brushing the residue off of him as soon as his feet met the ground.

"I hate that stuff," he said as they walked through the temple, starting their painstakingly dull survey of each nook and cranny as the hallway curved. "Absolutely disgusting."

Link snickered.

"All right," Groose started. "Because you laughed at me…I guess you could say I was…in a bind?"

"Oh no."

"Caught up in something."

"Please stop."

"In a sticky situation."

"Groose," Link pleaded. "I'm sorry for laughing, really. You don't have to do this."

"Thought so."

"Does Orielle like your puns?" Link asked, studying the wall and tracing it with his hand.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, she does." Groose said proudly.

"There's communication and then there's too much communication," Link mumbled.

"Whoa!"

"What?" Link said, turning his head.

"What is that?!" Groose was leaning back in fear, staring at the purple symbol on the wall.

"Nothing new," Link said casually, walking further along the hallway. "It must have reacted to my presence."

"But…but what is it?"

Groose didn't move on, inspecting it closely.

"I used to be able use the Master Sword to get things from it," Link said, waiting by the door that would lead them further into the temple. "It doesn't work anymore."

"There's nothing in this hallway," Link continued, pushing the door up and open and holding it there. "Let's keep going."

"If you say so," Groose said, ducking underneath the door before Link let go, it dropping back down with a large thud.

Groose made his way to the next door, observing the odd architecture of the room before he went to open it.

He looked behind him for Link, but was surprised to find him atop the short column, looking around upwards.

"Link?" Groose asked. "Do you see something?"

"The eyes," Link whispered, slightly surprised.

"The Sheikah symbol?" Groose said as he made his way around to the small flight of stairs, looking up as well. "Wasn't there a tear from the bottom?"

Groose joined Link, them both looking around at the eyes that stared back at them.

"There was," Link said. "Maybe this is before they had to kill anyone. Maybe they were part of building this temple in the first place."

"Or maybe they added the eyes later," Groose suggested. "Don't you remember? There was one at the entrance. Maybe they are using it to mark the temple somehow, the room."

"But why?" Link said, a silence falling until Groose rushed down the stairs.

"Groose?" Link inquired, his glance quickly going to the knight who was at a patch of dirt, uncovering something within it.

"Whoa," Link said once he caught sight of a small wooden trap-door, his eyes widening.

Groose opened it up, it creaking before he looked to Link, who was quickly approaching.

"It's a cave," Groose said as Link crouched down and looked into it. "Some…tunnel…"

"I'll lower you down," Groose said as he wiped his hands on his pants and held them out in offering.

"Me?" Link retorted. "Why me?"

"Because you're expendable."

"Excuse me?"

Groose laughed.

"I'm kidding," he corrected. "It's because you're lighter, come on."

Link latched his forearms onto Groose's, feeling himself slowly lowered down until he saw the floor mere inches from his feet.

"Okay," Link called out. "We're good!"

His voice echoed in remnants as his feet dropped down, Groose letting him go. Link withdrew his sword and shield.

"Does it lead anywhere?! Groose exclaimed.

"Well, it's dark," Link said, walking forward.

But it wasn't long before a wall of rubble blocked him.

"It's a dead end!" He exclaimed. "I'm going to try and blow it!"

Out of instinct, Link sheathed his sword and shield and pulled out a bomb from his pack.

He placed it down before the rubble and quickly ran to the opposite side of the cave, his hands over his ears as he prayed to Hylia that he wasn't too close to the explosion.

The loud boom made his ears ring, but it soon subsided, Link looking up to see it cleared.

"It worked!" Link said as he walked forward cautiously, peering at the dark cave and wishing he had some sort of light.

"It's…it's a whole system of tunnels," Link said before moving back to where Groose could see him, finding his curious yellow eyes.

"It's like a maze."

"Well if you're going to transport a Triforce that gives itself away, this is how you do it," Groose said.

Link looked to the harrowing caves, studying them with worry. Groose was right, and even if he was wrong, this was the best lead they had.

"When you said this might take months, you weren't kidding," Groose remarked. "And we don't even know for sure where this leads."

"I have to tell Zelda," Link said, looking back up. "Loftwings won't carry letters down here, she'll worry."

"Good idea," Groose said with a nod. "We'll get some wood for torches while we're outside, too."


	22. Home

"Zelda," Pipit said as he looked out the window. "You've got mail, Link's Loftwing."

Zelda's head popped up from her book, from the words that captured her mind to the ones that captured her heart. She looked to Karane.

"Go ahead," Karane prompted. "I could use a break."

Zelda hurried out as hastily as she could.

Pipit limped over to their table with the help of his cane, looking over their messy assortment of books and notes.

"Any luck?" He asked.

"No," Karane said with a shake of her head. "But as you know, there's tons of books to go through. We'll keep plenty busy."

"I was thinking of joining them actually, Link and Groose," Pipit said teasingly, "their daring adventure."

"No you will not!" Karane said, finally lifting her head. "Are you crazy? Your leg is still—"

Pipit was smiling.

"You're teasing me, aren't you?" Karane asked.

"Just wanted to get your face out of that book for a second," Pipit sad, pecking her cheek.

Karane blushed.

"Sit down and rest, you smooth talker."

"Yes Ma'am," Pipit said as he did just that, Zelda walking back in.

"Two letters this time," she said, returning to the table and opening them hastily. "Maybe there's news."

"Zel," Zelda read aloud. "Just checked the Ancient Cistern for any hideouts, but didn't find any. We figured the Sheikah might be close to the Sealed Temple because we didn't see a glow from up above. They likely didn't have to travel far. We're heading to the Skyview Temple next. How is the baby? Are you feeling okay? Link."

Zelda gave a soft smile, putting the letter down and rummaging for a blank piece of paper.

"If I write back now I can get it back on his Loftwing."

"Can I read the second one while you do that?" Karane asked.

"Sure," Zelda said casually as she wrote his name.

"Zel, we found a system of underground tunnels."

Zelda's head popped up immediately, her writing hand freezing.

"We think this is what the Sheikah used, but it seems very complex and I won't be able to receive letters underground."

Karane sighed as Zelda's expression saddened.

"So, just in case it takes a long time, know that I love and miss you very much and that I promise to bring you back the Triforce. I promise I'll be safe and I hope you will too. Don't worry about me. Yours, forever and always, Link."

Zelda put down the pencil and leaned back in her chair, her hands going to her lower stomach.

"I'd rather have him back safe than the Triforce," Zelda said sadly. "I hope he knows that."

"I'm sure he does."

Zelda shook her head 'no'.

"I was too hard on him," she continued. "I know the Triforce is important, but…it's going to be so hard not to worry about him."

* * *

The days and weeks were long, them melding into each other until Link and Groose lost all concept of time. Every fork in the tunnels was a decision and they often didn't know at all if it was the right one. They had backtracked, gone in circles, and lost their way so much that they felt lucky to even see the sunlight again.

Conversation became dulled. The two had discussed everything they cared to, had reminisced on everything they could remember, had prattled on about their significant others more than the other would have liked if not for the boredom.

Remarking at seeing the same tunnels everyday was a joke that got old fast.

They talked about Impa, about what she had to sacrifice, about the Sheikah and what they knew of their culture. They talked about how they were happy that the Sheikah might still be alive but both kept to themselves that this ordeal was causing quite a lot of trouble.

Link thought of the time as he walked along, the torch Groose held illuminating a path. To be honest, they never knew if it was the right one.

He thought about Zelda, as he often did. How far along she was, how far along she could be.

It felt like weeks they had been down here, taking all the wrong turns, so much so that they didn't even know what to do to get back. For all they knew, they could have trekked the entirety of Hyrule by now.

It felt like weeks, but Link had such a lost concept of time by now that it could have been short months, or even really, really long days.

"How are our provisions?" Link asked, the very echo of his voice a sound that both their pairs of ears were hungry for.

Groose didn't even look.

"Halfway through if we ration a bit more," Groose said. "If we hadn't found that underground lake we'd be done for as far as water."

Link nodded and the silence returned. He didn't want it to, but it was an inevitable silence. It grated on his ears.

He hated it.

Suddenly something caught his eye. His pacing slowed until it stopped completely.

Really, after such a long time seeing the same color of reddish brown, they were probably hardwired to spot any difference.

He studied it for a second, his blue eyes racing across it before he realized what it was.

"We're going back," he said, starting back along the tunnel they just came from.

"What? Why? Where did we end up?" Groose rushed to where Link was looking.

"Where we started," Link said as he kept going.

"Skyview?" Groose said as he studied the white part of the wall.

"Oh," he said when he realized they were looking at the walls of the Sky Keep, the spiraling temple that fit so neatly into the Sealed Grounds. Towering directly above them was surely the statue of the goddess Hylia. And, in the temple at her feet, where the Triforce was stolen from.

"Well, at least we're on some track," Groose said. "This is probably the tunnel they used."

"Hey," he continued, calling after Link. "How do you know they didn't go this way? Maybe they're west of the statue, not east…or east and not west if we're on the other side, or…wait…"

Link stopped and sighed in Groose's confusion, turning around and listening as he continued.

"We could be going north and south of we're on her actual sides…n-nevermind, it doesn't matter. My point is that they could have gone your way or my way. We can't be sure that they went your way."

"Well, we have to choose one," Link reasoned.

Groose sighed.

"Okay," as if about to try and figure it out.

"Or we don't have to choose one," Link suggested.

Groose furrowed his brow.

"What?" He retorted in reply.

"We could split up," Link said. "Better than taking the wrong way and losing this chance. We never had a fifty-fifty chance before, just unlucky shots."

"You must be seriously dehydrated," Groose said. "If we split up, we may never see each other again."

"And you say I'm dramatic," Link mumbled.

"You know what I mean," Groose added. "It's very possible that this system spans all of Hyrule. Hell, if I were a part of a hidden underground race, I'd likely do the same thing to keep myself occupied, digging all these tunnels, but that means that if we get separated—"

"We might find them faster," Link said.

Groose fell silent, stewing in his own thoughts before he said a finite,

"Fine," and walked away in his direction.

Link watched him walk off with a crease in his brow, trying not to let the loneliness overcome him so quickly.

This was fine. He would be fine, he went on a whole quest alone before. He could do it again.

Wait, no.

He had Fi.

But that tangent of thought was of no consequence, Link beyond surprised to see Groose almost immediately, walking in the direction Link was supposed to be going.

"What?" Link asked.

"It's a dead end."

"Thank Hylia," Link said.

They both stopped, the tunnel forking into three different avenues.

"All right ladies and gentlemen, which one?"


	23. Light in the Dark

"I told you, we should have gone with the second one."

"Hey, you got to choose the time after that," Groose reasoned. "Left? May have doomed us all."

"Well it's done now," Link said. "We went with the third tunnel and you're going to regret it and then I can blame all this on you."

"Whoa, whoa, hold on," Groose argued. "Are we forgetting the three right turns in a row of…well, whenever that was. Nonsense."

"I stand by my three right turns in a row, thank you very muhh…"

As if from nowhere, Link felt the cold edge of a blade at his neck. He assumed, at Groose's silence, that he was experiencing the same obstacle.

Link peered down at the edge of the blade, trying to calm his panic until the person who held the knife came around the corner.

Link breathed a sigh of relief, smiling.

They found them.

They actually found them.

"Why are you smiling?" The Sheikah asked. "I'll cut your throat where you stand."

Link kept smiling.

"You're a Sheikah," Link said. "You have no reason to kill me, so you won't."

"How?" The Sheikah said breathlessly as she lowered her knife, studying Link.

"Neither of you have paintings on your face," Groose added. "Which means you've never killed anyone. Even if you did have reason to kill us, you're likely more hesitant. You're both bluffing."

The two sheikah looked to each other, backing away, Groose massaging his neck where the knife was held.

"Don't hurt them," said an approaching voice, a tall figure covered in the shadows of the cave, just beyond the reach of Groose's torch, as if she always planned it that way. "These are Hylians. We have sworn to be their guardians. These are no foe, although I applaud your quick instincts, both of you."

"Yes ma'am," they both said before disappearing into the shadows.

Groose and Link peered at the tall Sheikah suspiciously.

"Come," she said before walking further into the cave, Link and Groose following cautiously.

"Do it," Groose said, leaning over to Link.

"Do what?" Link whispered.

"Thank me," Groose whispered.

"We both got ourselves here," Link said in reply. "Don't pride yourself on one right decision."

Groose backed off.

They saw a light before them, encircling an entire settlement as it became clearer. Link and Groose's eyes widened.

It really was a whole underground settlement of Sheikah. They could hardly believe it.

They had survived the war.

The lady before them was in an asymmetrical black cloak with her hood up, turning a corner and gesturing them into a very particular tent, like that was planned as well.

Link and Groose entered the tent, scanning its' inside to find that no one was there.

"Make yourselves at home," the Sheikah said as she stood near the entrance. Her large hood was still up, it casting a shadow upon her face.

The two knights felt as though they were being watched, scrutinized as they sat on two pillows. They had their guard up, of course, their muscles tense and their back straight as they tried to look everywhere but at the Sheikah.

But they couldn't help it, their curious gazes falling upon her silence as she took a single step to the side. Groose and Link inwardly questioned the abnormality until someone much shorter entered the tent with a tray of assorted cups, a kettle in the center.

"Tea?" The girl said, offering it to them with a smile.

"Uhh…" Link stammered. Groose had already taken a cup, so Link supposed there was no rejecting. Besides, they went to all the trouble to get it. The least he could do was be respectful of the hospitality.

"Th-thanks," he said as he took it. The girl left the tray before departing from the tent completely. Link put down his cup.

"Uhm…this is all very nice but we have some questions," Link said to the tall Sheikah before he corrected himself. "A lot of questions, actually."

The Sheikah moved from the entrance to the center of the room, standing before them as if to prompt their inquiries.

"O-okay, well," Link started. "I guess we'll get into the whole hidden civilization thing later, but we were wondering—"

"Do you guys have the Triforce or not?" Groose interjected, Link burying his face in his palms.

"Bring me, he said, I'll help, he said," Link mumbled.

"You were taking too long," Groose said to Link.

"You Hylians are quite impatient, aren't you?" the Sheikah said, both of the men looking back up. "Yes, we have your Triforce, as well as answers to questions you may not even have yet."

Link and Groose both let out a heavy sigh of relief, a great weight lifting from their shoulders.

Link inhaled to ask why they took it when the Sheikah took off her hood, Groose losing all hold of the cup, it shattering as it hit the floor.

Groose's eyes were wide, but Link's only twinged in surprise.

"Impa?" Groose asked breathlessly.

Link looked over at the red-haired knight with a glare.

"Really?"

"She looks just like her," Groose argued with a gesture of his hands.

"The one you speak of is my ascendant," the Sheikah said. "My name is Indigo. I am of her blood."

"So…so Impa had…children," Link ascertained. "All that time, she…she gave up all that time…for us…"

"If you are referring to her time in the Sealed Temple," Indigo said. "That was a willing sacrifice. She knew she was needed to help the goddess Hylia, to guard the Master Sword and to help the incarnates on their journey, so she gladly volunteered. Although I can tell you two carry a great amount of guilt for that, if you knew her, you would know that she would not have it."

"But," Groose started. "How…how was she able to stay alive all that time? It was thousands of years."

"The goddess granted her immortality until her purpose and role had been fulfilled," Indigo explained. "What was essentially her death was inevitable. I'm glad it arrived peacefully and that she was in the presence of those she cared for."

Groose smiled at the thought, remembering with bittersweet fondness Impa drifting away in a golden shimmer.

"Wait, wait," Link said with a furrowed brow. "How do you know how she died? That we were there when it happened?"

"Because I was there, too," said Indigo. "I'm sure you've seen more than enough of our tunnel system. Over the generations my people would visit her regularly. Just because she couldn't leave did not mean she was not without visitors. Especially then we knew her end was coming soon, your journey nearing a conclusion. We owed it to her to pay our respects, all the while keeping ourselves hidden."

"Why?" Groose asked. "After all your race has been through, why not make yourselves known to us?"

"Because they've been spying on us," Link said, figuring it out.

"You have," he continued. "Haven't you? Every time I thought I was jumping at shadows it was one of you."

Indigo sat down across them.

"Hylia made it clear that after Demise was defeated, there was to be a second threat to the Surface and to the Triforce. We've had our watchful eyes on that coming threat for a while and to reveal ourselves at all would incur that threat. You should be thanking us for removing the Triforce."

"Thanking you?" Groose retorted, inhaling to recount the hassle it was to get here. But Link held up a hand to him.

"What threat?" He asked Indigo slowly, trying to curb his own fear of the answer.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Link and Groose exchanged confused glances.

"It's you."

"Excuse me?" Link retorted.

"Well, your kind," Indigo corrected, "Hylians."

Link gave a sharp exhale.

"And you being here proves it," she added.

"What?" Link retorted rhetorically. "No…no…we needed to make sure you wouldn't misuse the Triforce."

"You need not worry."

Link shook his head, it moving downwards.

"It…it's not…" Link tried. "We…they don't even…"

Link took a deep breath, in and out, refocusing his words and slowing down his panicked thoughts.

"Most of the Hylians don't know because we were warned of their greed as well, but…I just…I don't believe they're capable of that. I can't. I've known them all my life."

The Sheikah leaned forward.

"The Triforce has a great power," she explained. "And in the face of such a power, people change, their greed and lust corrupts them. This endangers the Triforce, not only what it is supposed to represent, but also Hylia's wish that its singular use be to end the war. The war has ended. She knew that leaving it to mortals was necessary for that purpose but now, unfortunately, it has been left to mortals."

"If you were so concerned, why did you wait over a year to take it?" Groose asked.

"As a matter of fact," Indigo said. "We were planning to take it immediately after. You fools had it out in the open on Hylia's pedestal. Then you put it in the temple below her and that was fine. You and Zelda checked on it regularly. But when you went off gallivanting for an entire month, you left it in the care of mediocre knights who knew not of what they were protecting. We figured it would be safer here."

Link ran his fingers through his hair.

"She has a point," Groose said to Link.

"Many," Link mumbled back.

"Can…can we have it back?" Groose asked. "If we're more careful?"

Link almost couldn't believe they were asking permission. He appreciated their prudence in taking the Triforce to protect it, of course, but this power was issued to the Hylians. They should have at least asked.

Link tilted up his head as he froze his train of thought.

He was being possessive of it, right here, right now.

Indigo definitely had a point.

"I don't see why not," Indigo said after considering it. "But only for the reason that it is not that much safer here. Now that you know of us, I feel we must discuss better measures to hide it and keep it hidden."

Link nodded.

"Very well," said Indigo, standing up. "I imagine you would like to see it."

Groose and Link stood up as well, following Indigo out of the tent. Link jogged to meet up with Indigo's stride.

"So, um…about the Triforce," he said, feeling suddenly that he was already blabbering on annoyingly. Her gaze was forward as she walked, as if she weren't even listening. "You seem to know a lot about it, umm…you see I-I'm Hylia's chosen hero a-and I used to have to the full Triforce on my hand and now I don't so…I was wondering what that means? Uhm…"

"The triangles on your hand were only ever a symbol," she said with a continued forward gaze. "A representation of the actual Triforce. At one point, you had claim to all three. Your unbreakable spirit and courageous soul made you a prime candidate, not to mention her undying trust in you to use it selflessly. As you are aware, you did so, curbing your kind's greed and weighing greater your kindness, compassion and valor. You understood the Triforce well and, in consequence of all these things, were the best mortal to control it and defeat Demise by doing so. That was the singular task the Triforce was to be taken advantage for. Understand that nothing has changed. The goddesses have not deemed you at a loss for power or wisdom, nor do they intend to judge your undeniable courage. The reason why the symbols on your hand disappeared can be explained by looking at the Triforce itself."

"What do you mean?"

"Your relic is very powerful, in many different ways, yet there is a subtlety to it as well. If you look it at closely enough, your answers will become clear. The Triforce reflects a person own desires at touch, but at sight it reflects its own identity."

"So…?" Groose prompted behind them.

"So it will show me the current ownership of each piece," Link ascertained.

Link looked to the Sheikah.

"Right?"

The Sheikah nodded.

They came upon a larger tent, one they could see already a golden light emanating from, breaching and escaping from the openings.

Indigo, Groose, and Link stepped into the tent with shielded eyes, squinting until they got used to the brightness.

Link couldn't help another sigh of relief. They had found it, they had gotten out those tunnels and, Hylia willing, they could go home.

"Thank you," Link said, them stopping in front of it, not wanting to go any closer.

"You're welcome," Groose said in reply.

Indigo had, however, stepped closer, not stopped by any fear. She looked back at the two knights.

"I trust you not to use it of course," she said.

"O-of course," Link said with a nod.

"Then by all means," she prompted. "Find your answers."

Link stepped closer slowly, its' shine somehow weighing upon him. He could feel his nerves fraying, feel his anxiety settling upon him as he peered at it cautiously, afraid of its' power, what it would show, where the ownership of the two pieces went, and whether or not that in itself was something to be feared.

The golden shine subsided as he came closer, a distinct sheen like three golden mirrors.

Link focused on the bottom right triangle, the blue eyes that tracked his, the messy brown hair that needed to be brushed, the fatigue in his eyes he should have expected.

"It doesn't work," Groose said. "It's just showing a reflection of him."

"Because that's courage, you imbecile," Link mumbled.

"Oh."

Link took a deep breath as he looked into his own eyes. A glance up or down would give him the truth, no matter what if it was good or bad.

The palm of his hand suddenly felt cold and empty.

"Zelda should be here."

Link closed his eyes and tilted his head up, willing himself to open them until he did, them settling upon the uppermost triangle.

It was no face, no shape. It was in constant motion, looking much like an orange flame.

"What does that mean?" Groose asked.

"It has not yet taken form, but it will," Indigo explained. "That piece has been stolen and cursed."

"By Demise," Link figured.

"You are correct."

Link was shaking as his eyes trailed down to the lower-left triangle.

This one was unclear as well, Link trying to make it out as his eyes squinted. It wasn't a flame, like the other. It was something with an odd shape. He tried at length to place until suddenly, with wide eyes and a shaky breath, he knew exactly what it was.

Link looked back at Groose with tears in his eyes, lips parted in his speechlessness.

"What?" Groose asked looking between Indigo and Link. "What is it?"

"Because of Demise's curse," Indigo explained. "Evil in his kind of purity is destined to appear again. It searches for someone who has a great disparity between the power they have and the power they desire. It searches for someone to carry on Demise's bloodlust for the goddess and the hero. That is how, in his final moments, Demise cursed the Triforce of Power and was therefore satisfied. But, it seems that alongside that curse, the Triforce of Wisdom is destined to be passed along bloodlines."

Indigo approached Link, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I think our father here is a bit emotional."


	24. Conditions

Zelda's blue eyes drifted open, settling upon the relaxed hand right before them.

There was a wince in her expression as slowly sat up, emerging from her slumber with tired blinks of her eyes.

Her and Karane had been studying the base of the goddess for any carvings that would hint to more information on the Triforce. The desk Zelda fell asleep on was messy as she looked at it drearily.

She could still hear what likely lulled her to sleep in the first place, the chirping birds, the calming breeze, the gentle rustle of the trees. As she looked around, she wasn't surprised at all that she had dozed off.

She was, however, surprised that she was alone where she sat. Karane and Pipit, who had come along with her to not only help her research but to get a change of pace and some fresh air, were now gone completely as she looked around from her chair.

Why would they leave without her? Why didn't they wake her up? She can't walk back home on her own, and flying in her condition wasn't the best idea. Maybe they would come back.

Zelda sighed, gathering the things on her desk and resigning herself to the fact that she would likely have to walk home alone.

Yet, something caught her eyes, a pink flower resting upon a book. Zelda's brow creased as she picked it up, her fingers running across its' delicate curling petals.

"Azalea," she said with a smile. "Link."

She stepped away from the table, looking around for him.

"Link?" She called out before her eyes darted to an entire trail of pink flowers leading into the open temple at the goddess' feet.

Her heart warmed as her expression sank into a thankful smile, her eyes curving along with it.

Just from here she could see the glow of the Triforce, picking up each flower as she came closer until she was right before the relic with a whole bouquet of pink flowers.

"You did it," she said softly with tears in her eyes. She was addressing Link, but she knew he wasn't there, it becoming, in her eyes, hopeless words she just wanted him to hear.

She bowed her head with a sigh.

"I wanted you back more than the Triforce."

"I wasn't sure."

She looked to where the voice came from quickly with wide eyes and parted lips.

He was leaning on a column with a smirk, his arms crossed.

She dropped the flowers as she started to run, hugging him so quick and fast that they fell to the ground.

"Zel," Link said with a laugh. "Be careful."

They were facing each other where they lay, Zelda bringing a hand to his cheek and rubbing her thumb along it.

"I am," she said, resting her head down on the ground as she admired his blue eyes, got lost in his smile.

Link met her hand where it touched his cheek, kissing the inside of her palm before he entangled her fingers in his.

"Zel, I…I got the Triforce back. I'm so sorry for—"

"I don't care," Zelda said with a shake of her head. "I missed you so much."

Link's eyes drifted down to her stomach, letting out a chuckle when he saw the bump was now much more pronounced. He placed a gentle hand on it as their foreheads met.

"How far?" He asked.

"Three months," Zelda said with a smile. "You were down in those tunnels for about two. I figured you'd lose track of time."

"I don't want to lose anymore," he said before his mouth crashed into hers, the familiarity so soothing he almost forgot to breathe. With a small smile, the kiss broke only for second, only to return and deepen.

"Mm," he said as he finally withdrew. "I want to show you something."

He helped her up, leading her to the Triforce and covering her eyes.

"Link, I saw the Triforce when I came in."

"I know," Link said with a smile. "But this is something else."

"I learned," he continued. "That if you look closely, each piece will reveal it's true owner. Courage belongs to me. Power has been cursed by Demise, to return like we feared."

"And wisdom?" Zelda asked, hoping the answer was a bit less worrisome.

"Wisdom," Link said before uncovering her eyes and sliding his arms around her stomach. His chin went into the crook of her neck. "Is someone I'd like you to meet."

"Link…" she said shakily. "Is…"

She was already crying, Link could tell.

"Is that…?" Zelda asked.

"Our child," Link said before kissing her neck. "That's why it disappeared from my hand when it did. It went to my offspring. That's…it's destiny…to be passed along bloodlines."

Zelda let out a chuckle of disbelief as her tears continued, turning around and hugging Link tight.

"I'm so sorry I was so hard on you," Zelda said. "I never want you gone again."

"I assure you, Zelda," Link said. "Nothing is going to keep me away from you now."

* * *

With hands held, they walked home from the temple, a casual stroll as the sun set on Hyrule and an orange glow pierced along the horizon, through the leaves of the trees.

After they exhausted the topics that had the narrow depth of pleasantries, about two months with only Groose for company and how the weather has been so serene lately, their conversation deepened. Link took multiple quandaries to the health of the baby, to which Zelda assured him that Greba had checked her a few days ago and that everything was going as normal.

When Link apologized again for his absence, Zelda would cite her great faith in him, that her love would carry them through any time apart. Jokingly, she requested that he stay put for now. Link heartily agreed.

But the next topic was inevitable as they approached their house, Zelda stopping in the yard.

"You got the Triforce back," she started. "You told me the Sheikah gave it freely. I didn't press the matter but…"

Her words faded.

"They're in the house," Link said to her profile. "They want to talk to you."

Zelda closed her eyes with an exhale.

"Is that supposed to console me?" She asked. "Their well-being—"

"Is of their own accord," Link finished for her, likely different from what she intended. "They made their choice. Maybe you forced their hand then, but when I went to them, they chose your authority freely, even when I expected them to act in revenge against us. Zel, what Hylia did was wrong but…they survived it."

Zelda opened her eyes as she nodded. She brought a hand to her slightly swollen stomach.

"I wish carrying wisdom would grant me some."

Link placed a hand to the back of her head and kissed her forehead. Zelda looked over.

"You were already the wisest person I know before you carried our baby," Link said. "Any apparent wisdom on my part is surely attributed to that."

Zelda's smile sank her expression along with her exhale.

She started to walk forward again, Link by her side.

Indigo, in her impatience, came through the door, her tall frame and similarity to Impa stunning Zelda completely as Indigo stepped outside.

"Your Grace," she said before kneeling with a bowed head. "It is an honor."

Zelda held back her relief and her happiness, remembering formality and grace, the composure she had relearned. To embrace this Sheikah and celebrate their presence and existence would be to disrespect the years upon years of service they did in Hylia's name, as if only this moment mattered. This Sheikah was offering formality and Zelda was determined to return it.

Perhaps with her own mortal twist, she supposed.

"The honor is mine," Zelda said, kneeling to the level of the Sheikah and placing her hands on either of her arms. Indigo met Zelda's gaze in slight surprise.

"To see your race alive and well is an honor on its own," Zelda continued. "Thank you for your bravery."

Zelda started to tear up. She tried to ignore that her composure wasn't working before tears befell her cheeks.

"I…I'm sorry," Zelda said, moving her hands to wipe away her tears and hiding her face. "This is completely inappropriate."

Zelda felt a hand on her shoulder, yet when she looked to it she realized it wasn't Links.

"We blame you not for your deeds as a Goddess," Indigo said. "We treasure your life as you do ours. It is for this reason that our race did not die in vain. Blood was shed from all who fought, and in their names, we must prevent blood from ever spilling upon Hyrule again."

Zelda had tears in her eyes that she ignored, nodding in agreement.

"Speaking of which," Indigo said. "It's time we talk about your Triforce."

* * *

Link sat back down on the couch, handing Zelda a cup of water silently before he leaned forward on his elbows.

"No one?" Indigo asked, looking between all who were gathered in Link and Zelda's living room.

It was everyone who knew of the Triforce, except for Zelda's father, who was not in attendance. Link and Zelda sat on a couch opposite Indigo, with Pipit and Karane on the couch to their right and Groose in a chair that completed the square.

"What about the Sky Keep?" Zelda suggested. "That's where it used to be."

"No safer there than underground," Groose said with a shake of his head. "With the right amount of effort, it would still be a target."

With a blink of his eyes and a crease in his brow, Link's head shifted downwards. Zelda knew how to read that by now.

"What are you thinking?" She asked.

"The Triforce wasn't just hidden in the Sky Keep," Link said.

"What do you mean?" Zelda prompted.

Link looked up among the group.

"When I was searching for the flames," he started. "To forge the Master Sword…I had to undergo trials."

"The Silent Realms," Indigo said. "Where you received her gifts. They were meant to test you."

Link nodded.

"But there was a version of those when I got the Triforce from the Sky Keep," he continued. "Each one was in its own individual silent realm and I had to use the Master Sword to access it. For some reason, they were always connected to the Master Sword. I had to use it to enter a realm beyond this reality."

"Are you talking about the Sacred Realm?" Karane asked, Zelda looking to her immediately.

"I don't think so," Link said in reply.

"What is that?" Groose asked.

"We found it in one of the books," Zelda said. "It's a realm parallel to Hyrule…the supposed land of the goddesses…a myth, really."

"Do you think we could move the Triforce there?" Pipit asked.

" _If_ it is real, then maybe," Karane said. "Even then, how would we get in?"

"Through the Master Sword," Link suggested. "Maybe it works the same as the others, like the Master Sword is some…gateway. And if we put the Triforce in there only pulling the Master Sword would release it. Even I can't do that anymore."

"So as long as the Master Sword stayed in its' pedestal," Pipit clarified. "The realm would be sealed, and thus the Triforce."

"Wait, hold on," Zelda said. "We don't even know if the Sacred Realm is real."

"If it isn't," Link reasoned. "Then I won't have gone anywhere."

"Whoa," Zelda said as she turned her head to him. "Who says you're doing it?"

"Of course I'm doing it," Link said. "I'm the only person who can hold the hilt without getting blown back."

Zelda sighed.

It was true, it had to be him.

"I can protect you with my magic," she said. "Try to direct the Triforce to the Sacred Realm…maybe Hylia has been there before. Maybe I can keep you out of it."

Link nodded.

"But Link…" she continued. "None of this is a guarantee. Are you sure about this?"

"We have to hide the Triforce, Zel," Link said. "And if this is how we do it, then this is how we do it."

Everyone looked to Indigo, waiting for her opinion, her authority.

"I am somewhat familiar with the myth," she said with a nod. "It's an unprecedented situation, but it could work."

Link and Zelda's hands met as the group of them smiled.

Indigo's red gaze was on Link and Zelda.

"Even with the incarnate's magic it's risky, but I can't see any other alternative. This is the best option we have and if you say it's worth the risk, then it is worth a try."

Link nodded.

"What about concealing it from history?" Karane asked. "There's hiding the actual Triforce but couldn't the idea of it could still cause civil war, dissent, chaos."

"Because so few people know," Zelda said. "I think we're on the right track. But with people moving down here we have to be extra careful about it. About what we say, about hiding evidence like books and texts."

Indigo nodded.

"That's a good start," the Sheikah said. "But I want you all to keep in mind that your race will never truly be completely safe from this potential corruptive greed. Even my race, although I hate to admit, can fall prey to it. Going forward, you must keep in mind that this an inward battle that will never end. You fought and won a thousand-year war between the forces of good and evil, easy to define, to draw a line upon. But before you is that same struggle inside your souls, between good and evil. Hylia loved her people for the innocence of that struggle, perhaps placing to much hope in your victory, but you must be careful to wage it with a great awareness. Never think it has been won, or it is most assuredly lost."

The group of them nodded in agreement.

"We'll attempt reaching the Sacred Realm tomorrow," Indigo continued, changing the subject and standing up. "Until then, enjoy the rest of the day. I know this is tiring for everyone."

Everyone else stood up, the meeting at an end. Indigo stepped to the side, watching Link and Zelda in particular.

"How's the leg?" Link asked Pipit as the yellow-clad knight helped Karane to stand up off the couch.

"Better," Pipit said in reply. "Off the cane and walking…ish…I'd say that I'll be returning to my duties as a knight soon, but with Karane entering her final trimester, it's unlikely."

"Honestly I might take a break soon too," Link said. "Relax a bit."

"You two just leaving me to do your jobs," Groose said, crossing his arms. "Pathetic."

"Well, no matter what the future has in store," Zelda said. "You are all invited to stay for dinner."

"That sounds great!" Karane said excitedly as Link put his arm around Zelda. Groose, Pipit, and Karane entered their own excited conversation.

"Do you need any help preparing?" Link asked, turning his head to her.

"Sure," Zelda said. "Thanks."

He released his arm from her shoulders, taking a couple steps before a

"Link," made him turn his head to Indigo.

Indigo gestured her head to prompt him to come over, Link looking to Zelda.

"I'll be right there," he assured Zelda, his wife nodding and moving to the kitchen.

"I need to discuss something with you," Indigo said once he came closer, Link looking up at the tall Sheikah, "about the Sacred Realm."

"Okay, what?"

Indigo looked over at the people in their vicinity, the happy smiles, the joyous conversation and laughter as they all went to the kitchen and started talking with Zelda.

"Not here," Indigo said. "It's about the risk. I suggest going somewhere else if you don't want to worry your loved ones. If you choose to, you can always tell them my warnings later."

Link nodded.

"I understand."


	25. Seal

With much concentration, Zelda moved the Triforce just in front of where they stood, its bright light casting a shadow of the Master Sword near it.

"There," she said diffusing her magic and letting it float on its' own. "Now we should be able to tell if it worked."

She looked to Link, who was dismantling his weapons and laying them on the floor. Her concern grew.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" She asked.

"Yeah," he said, not looking at her and placing down his sword in its' sheath. "I told you, there's nothing to worry about."

"But Link…" she said, approaching him as he turned to face her. "What if…"

"Everything will be fine," Link interrupted as his hands placed themselves on her arms. They slid down to take her hands.

Zelda let out a chuckle, trying to find some levity in the situation.

"Usually it's me reassuring you. Now I'm the anxious one."

"Zel, I promise I'll be back in no time," Link said. "Your magic will protect me, remember? And even if it doesn't, no time passed in reality when I was doing the Silent Realms, I'm sure this is the same. It will be like I never left. I'll go to the Sacred Realm and be right back here, holding you. Then we can live the rest of our lives."

Zelda nodded, Link starting to tear up, his gaze going down.

With a gentle hand on her stomach, he let out an exhale, stepping forward so that their foreheads met. He tried to take in everything about this moment, her lavender dress, the way her skin was soft, the way she always smelled like flowers.

"Link, are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Zelda asked.

"Yes," Link replied, looking up. "I…just love you, that's all."

"I love you too," she said with a smile.

Link's smile was sad before he captured her lips with his, his hand on the back of her head and his eyes clamped shut.

It was desperate and dramatic, Groose rolling his eyes and wondering why he even came.

Link sniffled his nose, withdrawing slowly and opening his eyes to hers. Knowing that they could drown in each other's gaze, Link turned to the sword and Zelda backed away slightly, creating a line with Groose and Indigo.

Link approached the sword with fearful eyes.

He stepped right before it, studied it, the purple hue and all the familiarity that came with it.

"Fi," he said, kneeling down. "I hope you don't mind."

Link placed his hands on the hilt, wrapping his fingers around, but not pulling.

Zelda closed her eyes and held out her hand, golden magic emanating onto Link. Her hand shook with the effort it took.

She released a smile.

"I…I can feel it," she said. "The Sacred Realm…it has a presence here like nowhere else."

Suddenly the Triforce blipped out of existence, Groose beaming a great big smile.

"Zelda, we did it," he said excitedly. "It worked!"

Zelda kept her eyes closed and nodded with a smile that matched his. She kept her magic on Link, him glowing golden where he still knelt.

"He should be coming out of it," Zelda asked. "The gateway opened, the Triforce is there, in the Sacred Realm…the gate is closing."

"Well, get him out of it!" Groose exclaimed.

"I'm trying," Zelda said in her concentration, her magic wavering until it strengthened again, Link frozen in that position. She tried and she tried, her magic brightening as her hand shook more.

Indigo didn't say a word, only looking at Link with pity.

"It's closed," Zelda said with a sigh of relief, opening her eyes and stopping her magic. "He made it without being transported with the Triforce."

But Zelda's heart stopped when Link completely collapsed to the floor.

"Link!" She exclaimed, rushing to his side and flipping him to rest on her lap. "Link! Wake up! We did it!"

Groose came around the other side quickly, holding Link's wrist and waiting for a pulse.

"There…there's something wrong…" Zelda said, petting his cheek desperately. "Link!"

Groose shook his head.

"There's no pulse," he said, looking up at Zelda.

With closing eyes, her tears fell quickly, her head falling down into his chest.

Groose was in shock, his eyes wide, doubting what he knew as the truth.

"How?" He started to ask with shakes of his head before looking up to Indigo. "How could this have happened?"

But Groose saw something in Indigo, the pity and the wisdom in her eyes. He stood up quickly and angrily, rushing to her. With aggression in his eyes, his arm penned her against the nearest wall.

"What happened?!" He exclaimed. "You know, don't you?!"

Indigo was hesitant, making Groose shake his arm to prompt the information out of her.

"My best friend has no pulse!" He exclaimed. "Either you tell me why or I'll make sure you don't have one either!"

"The possibility of him merely opening the gate was low," Indigo started, her voice strained with Groose's arm at her neck. Zelda looked up in attention to her words. "I had a feeling his consciousness would be transported, with your magic only protecting his body, and I informed him of that. He knew the risk. He was aware of the consequences when he went in, he accepted them bravely and silently, knowing you would object. He knew it was possible it may not work quickly, although his hope foolishly insisted he would. He knew he may be stuck for a long period of time and knew he may never emerge. That is, in fact, what he neglected to tell you. He didn't want you to stop him."

Groose, still seething with anger, rewarded her honesty by letting her go.

"Is he dead?" Groose asked with heavy breaths.

"Check his hand," Indigo said, massaging her neck.

Zelda did so almost immediately, flipping it over for a sigh of relief to come from her lungs.

"He's alive," she said, kissing the single pulsing triangle on the back of his hand. "He's trapped, but he's alive."

"So, he's trapped inside the Sacred Realm," Groose said. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Zelda said. "That he has to find a way out. His consciousness…is locked in."

* * *

End of Part I

* * *

**Author's Note: Whew, it's done. Well, part one at least. Still more to come but I'm going to take advantage of this cliffhanger and go on a small hiatus, not just because I need a break for mental health reasons but also because I'll be going to my cousin's wedding. I'll perfect Part 2 and also try to relax as best as I can during that time and see you all in a couple weeks!**


	26. The Sacred Realm

In an instant, Link suddenly lost all sensation.

The grip he had on the hilt, the rough stone grating at his knees, how it felt to bow his head, that nervous feeling he had in his chest. His mind, however, was still rampant with thoughts, in his heart feelings he remembered so well he didn't need to feel them.

He opened his eyes as a familiarity washed over him, those trials flooding right back into his memories. Link honestly never thought he would be in this situation again as he got his bearings. As if unlocking from stillness, he stood up.

He was still in the Sealed Temple, yet now it had an eerie quality to it.

The Silent Realms he once knew were coated in an iridescent blue, like he was underwater and the waves were gliding against his skin. A protective force had surrounded his consciousness, one only the Guardians' blades could penetrate. A blow not to his feeble, Hylian frame, but to his spirit, his resilience, truly testing it and making a game of it.

This, however, as he looked around, at his hands, at the walls of temple, felt much less rudimentary. It was the very fact that he had already proved himself that he was able to stand here. And, with his fear realized that he would be stuck, he almost wished he wasn't.

Yet he couldn't help but marvel at how this parallel version of the Sealed Temple looked.

Architecturally the same, Link figured perhaps the Sealed Temple in reality took inspiration from what Link could only assume was the goddesses realm.

The Sacred Realm.

Instead of an otherworldly blue, it was coated in a golden yellow, shining bright and resplendent. He too, shone with the same sun-color, those waves protecting him, his self, his consciousness.

Or whatever had made it here, he figured as he completed his observational circle.

He stepped down the stairs, looking for the Triforce.

Link started to worry greatly, that he was here and not the Triforce. That he, perhaps, had come here in its place.

He had paced all the way to the doors, the ones that would normally exit to the Sealed Grounds, the statue of the Goddess Hylia. Link's walking quickened as he worried more, attempting to search for it outside.

Link placed his hands on the doors, ready to push them open.

"If I were you," he heard a voice say. "I would not go further."

Link turned his head to his shoulder before turning fully, peering at the woman before him with uncertainty.

She was at least double his height, with a sage-colored dress, ebbing downwards like a calm breeze. Only her human-like peach skin wasn't green, her emerald hair knotted into buns on either side with two long bangs in the front. Even the essence that floated away from her was green, the magic that drifted and encapsulated her.

"Although it's questionable why you are here at all."

Link tried to speak, his lips forming at least the letter 'W', attempting to turn it into a word.

"It seems your speechlessness will remain," the woman continued. "Your questions are numerous so I will start with the first. To go beyond those doors would be to leave the heart of the Sacred Realm, sights mortals can't even fathom. Your consciousness, although steadfast and strong, may not endure."

"S…s-so," Link said. "This is the Sacred Realm."

"Yes," she replied. "More specifically, the Temple of Light that marks the center. It is a sacred place, one you do not belong in, nor have reason to be in."

"There…there was an accident," Link tried to argue, yet his voice came out so thin and weak that he reasoned it never would work. "We were trying to get the Triforce here using the Master Sword, but…but I think I got brought along with it, at least I think I did. Is it here?"

"You wish to see the Triforce?" She asked rhetorically. "Have you not calmed your greed? Do you feel it possesses you? That it calls to you?"

"No, no, it…" Link said, with a voice he figured would remain weak compared to how hers echoed. "I need to make sure it is safe, that it has been secured here. I definitely don't want to use it."

"Your kind, as always, interests me greatly," she said. "I will admit your request."

She stepped aside, looking beyond where Link had entered, at where Zelda was once sealed in amber in somewhere apparently parallel. The heavy stone doors were open to the room, yet the far pedestal held a door that led further.

"It is that way," she said. "If you must see it."

Link peered at the oddity in this woman, the perfection, but also the familiarity. It was like her name was on the tip of his tongue.

And, yet, he never met her before.

Link approached her, a forward mind, of course, on his destination, but his curiosity turned his head to her as he walked past.

He stopped before her, immediately feeling as though he perhaps shouldn't.

Link studied her with intrigue.

"Do…" he started. "Do I know you?"

"Know?" She retorted, but in a graceful, elegant manner, bestowing a smile. "Why, what a silly question."

"How?" Link asked with confused shakes of his head.

"To know courage is to know me, young one," she said. "So the very idea of your ignorance in that respect is humorous, as you know courage quite well. If you are, however, searching for my designation, I will not give it."

Link nodded, something within telling him not to question her further.

She watched with a smile as he went along, up the stairs and through the door.

Farore, after all, enjoyed the amusement.


	27. Deity

The room he opened the door to did not contain the Triforce, yet Link's curiosity pulled him inwards nonetheless.

If there was a floor, he would not know, it completely blackened like the walls and the ceiling. The room could have just as easily extended for miles for all he knew.

Yet the room contained more than one marvel.

At his feet was a narrow bridge of water, off its edges liquid falling into the dark abyss.

Link took a cautious step forward, looking down and placing weight as if to test its integrity. He took another when he didn't fall, his building confidence in the odd bridge making him look up to the door on the other side of it.

As he walked along the bridge slowly, Link figured the room had quite the width, there being multiple pedestals similar to the bridge, yet of hexagonal shape.

His speechless awe remained until he reached the door, giving one last look at the room. He wondered at its purpose, an odd feeling within him that it was quite important.

Link shook his head and opened the door, it barely ajar before he squinted his eyes and placed his arm defensively before them.

He only needed the red spots he saw on the inside of his eyelids to know what he inched towards. Link came closer and closer to the glowing Triforce as his eyes drifted open, getting used to the brightness. He lowered his arm slowly until he breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"It's here," he said. "It's safe."

Link didn't realize he hadn't closed the door behind him until it latched close, looking behind him to see the tall woman in green.

"I would wager this is all quite confusing for a mortal like you," she said with a smile.

Link shrugged.

"I've seen some pretty crazy stuff, but…yeah confused is a word I would use."

Adorning the same smile, the goddess moved to stand beside him. Link tracked her with his eyes until she met her destination, them both looking at the Triforce.

"As you can see," she started. "You need not be concerned. The Triforce is safe inside our realm. You thought well in bringing it here."

"It's such a relief," Link said with a sigh. "But…"

"Something troubles you?" Asked the woman.

"I…I just…" he said, gaining his courage. She had asked, after all. No matter how intimidated he felt, he had to bring it up. "Even you said I don't belong here. Now that I know the Triforce is secure…"

Link looked to her profile.

"Can I go back?" He asked. "To my realm? The Master Sword isn't here. Is there a different way back?"

The woman didn't reply, maintaining her stoicism. Link felt his heart drop as his fears overcame him.

"It…it's a one-way trip, isn't it?"

He winced waiting for the answer, the slow, anticipated answer. If it was an easy no, it would have been much quicker.

"It doesn't have to be," she said with an echoing wisdom, still looking at the Triforce.

Link furrowed his brow.

"What do you mean?" Link asked. "Are you saying I can go back?"

He studied her profile in her silence, eventually having his gaze go to where hers was.

The Triforce.

"No," he said with shakes of his head. "No, I…I can't."

Link was silent, feeling the decision wrestle within him. He couldn't deny that he was tempted, that he could be there for his wife, his unborn child, that he could return to everything he thought would be his future.

But that was selfish, incredibly selfish. He would have depended on the Triforce's might, he would have fallen to temptation, and he may not get up from it. Every decision from then on, every wrong thing he wanted to make right he would fall deeper into it. He would obsess over using it just "one last time". And, before he knew it, he would become someone he wouldn't even recognize.

And he wouldn't even realize it was happening.

This is what Indigo was talking about.

Link released a tear, bowing his head and breathing a heavy exhale, as if releasing himself from the inward struggle.

"No," he said. "That wouldn't be right…I…wouldn't feel right about that. That was the whole point of hiding it here, so that my kind wouldn't be tempted to use it for selfish reasons. Hylia wanted me to use it once. If I used it again to get home, the guilt would eat at me the rest of my life. My only option is to do the next right thing, which is to stay here."

Link kept his gaze on the floor at his feet, eyeing the watery texture on his skin and clothes as he brought his hand to his eye-line.

His wedding ring was still there, Link spinning it around his finger as he thought of her. He gave a sigh, stopping the swirling of his ring to instead study the etchings made on it.

They were leaves, curling leaves that encircled the ring in its' entirety.

He remembered Zelda had flowers on hers, he remembered putting it on her finger after they said their vows. He remembered her lips, her touch, her smile, her laugh, her eyes. He remembered so many things that, in this infinite torture, he was likely to forget.

"So that's just it, isn't it," Link said, looking back up at the Triforce. "My consciousness for the protection of the Triforce, to prevent its' misuse…for…them…my life for theirs…I suppose that's a trade I can make…"

His eyes clamped shut as more tears fell, Link breathing a shaky exhale. Not forgetting where he was, he tried to wipe away his tears, to subdue his sadness for this moment. He likely had many others beyond.

"I'm sorry, I don't normally cry in front of strangers."

"I had hoped you would say that," the woman said.

"What," Link said, trying to compose himself. "That I'm crying?"

"No," she said in reply. "I had hoped that you would reject the Triforce's power."

"Why?" He retorted. "You said I didn't belong here. Why would you want me to stay?"

"I don't," she said simply.

Link looked to her quickly, not understanding.

"Then…?"

Link sorted through everything in his mind, what she could possibly be talking about until it occurred to him suddenly.

"You…you were testing me?" Link asked.

She nodded.

"Why?" He asked.

"If you took the Triforce for selfish intentions," the woman started to explain. "The world would become a vile place. The Triforce would be truly split into three among its' owners and Hyrule would fall to darkness. Because no satisfaction can be met along that path, the punishment is hewn within it, leading to a life of pain and suffering. I wouldn't need to punish you for your immorality. It was an easy lesson for you to learn, at least from my perspective."

"In choosing not to, however," she continued, Link listening attentively. "You have proven yourself as selfless, with a true heart that is strong, strong in your determination to be unlike your kind. Because of this, I will grant what you seek…"

Link let out a smile, a chuckle of disbelief. He could barely contain his happiness, yet he tried anyway.

"…as it is not your fate to be here in this place. I have elected to send you back to where you come from, to reunite your consciousness with your mortal body."

She turned to him completely, towering over the small man.

"Although this is a favor to your heroism, I must apologize for the discrepancy that will occur. This realm, although parallel to Hyrule, is a realm of the goddesses and, as such, has measures to prevent any more deified entanglements. The displacement you will experience is up for you to discover, yet I still apologize for it. In short, our time is not yours. Living mortals are not meant to visit our realm and we have separated ourselves from yours for good reason. Our involvement curbed your development, so we chose to disconnect, to view our people from a considerable temporal distance in light of our careless error. With the Triforce out of mortal grasp, perhaps the mistake of leaving such a relic will be alleviated."

"You have returned the Triforce to safety," she continued with a smile. "I thank you for your moral tact, your resistance to temptation, and your prudence. You really are a worthy hero, a paragon of your kind. I could accolade you even further, a consequence of my own pride, but I gather you would like to return as soon as possible."

Link nodded quickly, the woman closing her eyes.

"By the power within me as the goddess Farore…"

Link's eyes widened considerably as he felt his breath escape him.

"I return you to your body and to your time."

"I-I'm sorry, you…you're…"

Just as Link exhaled to continue he felt an energy surround him, lifting him up.

It felt as if the world was spinning around him, changing. It dizzied him, meddled with his thoughts, his feelings, his focus.

Link closed his eyes.

Link imagined opening them to Zelda's, or to the hilt of the sword and looking behind him to her and Groose. They would share smiles and laughter, they would be relieved. The Triforce was secure and Link was free from the realm that now sealed it. They could all go home, live their lives in peace. Him and Zelda would anticipate greatly over the next six months the name, the gender, the face of their baby until it fell into place as if they always knew. They would live in a Hyrule without the temptation of the Triforce.

Or, at least, that's what he thought.


	28. Emergence

Link opened his eyes with a heavy gasp, panting and panting as he sat up, his hands braced against whatever he was laying on.

His hectic vision cleared to find himself in the Sealed Temple, the real one, grounded in his reality. His breathing heaved until it calmed to a sigh of relief, burying his face in his hands.

He was back, he was fine, the Triforce was fine, and he could live his life.

Link silently rejoiced in it until the silence became louder, something he couldn't ignore.

His brow creased, looking up to see no one.

No Zelda, no Groose, no Indigo.

The Master Sword, sure, but…

"Zel?" He asked to an empty temple, his voice echoing.

He chuckled nervously.

"This isn't funny," he continued, waiting for a reply.

Link wondered why they weren't here. They, from his perspective, had just been standing right where he was looking.

Had he been gone longer than he thought?

Link finally looked down at what he was sitting on.

A bed, an actual bed.

He quickly rummaged away from it with heavy breaths, now fearing how long he had been there.

"Okay!" He called out to the temple as he walked away from the room behind the Master Sword, soon passing it. "Very funny!"

"Not sure why this is a joking matter, but fine," he half-mumbled as he walked down the stairs. The weapons he placed down were even gone. "It's not like I expected you guys to ever grow up completely, but maybe a little."

There was still no reply as he reached the end of the stairs, Link's eyes swimming with fear as he looked around. He took a shaky deep breath, loneliness creeping upon him until it settled.

Of course he couldn't expect them to wait for him. They likely stepped away.

Suddenly he heard the side doors open, Link looking quickly to Groose.

The red-haired knight stepped through the doors casually, his gaze slightly downward. Even as he closed the doors behind him, he didn't seem to notice Link at the bottom of the stairs.

Groose took a couple steps before he finally looked up at a confused Link.

Groose immediately brought a hand to his mouth and started to tear up. His eyes glistened with an approaching wetness as he looked at Link with so many emotions that only confused Link more.

"Groose…what…?"

Before he knew it, Groose had taken him in a desperate hug, clutching him as Link's arms floated at his sides.

Link had come to know Groose as quite the softie, showing his emotions quickly because he took pride in communication, but somehow this was different. This wasn't his usual over-the-top, dramatic embrace just for the whimsy of it. It was the way Groose looked at him, and just sank into his friends embrace as if he never thought he would again.

But that was silly, Link figured, looking for the levity. That familiar levity that he depended on Groose's friendship for.

"Groose," Link said with a laugh, "what…what's going on? Where did everybody go?"

Groose released him, a sadness in his yellow eyes that Link had never seen before.

"You've been asleep for a…long time, Link," Groose said in all seriousness.

"What do you mean, long time? How—"

Link's blue eyes widened.

"Zelda!"

Groose took a pause, thinking over his words.

"Zelda is recovering."

"Recovering?" Retorted Link. "What do you mean, recovering? It can't have been more than—"

"Link," Groose interrupted. "You've been asleep for six months."

Link let out a sharp exhale.

"Six…how…"

His lips formed into a smile, forgoing the question he would sort out later.

"That means she's at term," Link said excitedly. "She's going to have the baby soon. I…I have to see her."

Link started a walk off, towards the doors that would lead him outside.

Groose's expression melted as he looked upon him, that melting sensation descending deep down into his heart.

"Link," he prompted.

Link had just placed a hand on the door, his intent to exit interrupted before he turned back around to face Groose.

"Yeah?"

The expression on Link's face made Groose resist continuing. The hopefulness, the casualty, the candid and soft smile at what he thought lay before him. After all this man had been through to achieve happiness, and he would be the one to destroy it.

"I have to tell you something."

"What?" Link asked, Groose bowing his head.

"Groose, you're scaring me," Link said, taking a step forward. "Whatever it is…"

"I didn't want to be the one to tell you."

"Well, you are, so get on with it," Link said, starting to get frustrated. "What? Did I miss the birth? Did my house burn down? I've never seen you this serious."

The type of levity Link had pained Groose, thinking of how damned far Link had come to not automatically assume the worst.

It was like Link was from a different era entirely, the way he was reacting. It reminded him achingly of how things were six months ago and Link was about to be pulled right into the truth that would end it.

"Zelda," Groose started. He took a shaky deep breath, in and out. It was just two words.

"She miscarried."

* * *

**Author's Note: Hi, please be nice.**


	29. Anger

**Author's Note: I'd like to thank you all so much for not lashing out at me for last chapter's cliffhanger. I am grateful for your kindness and civility not only because I've been going through a low point in my mental health (not because of a miscarriage, I don't impose myself onto characters that much) but also because I've been in the situation before where a plot twist in one of my stories garnered hatred and contempt towards me as the author.**

**I don't think I could handle such contempt being thrown my way again and I just wanted you all to know how much I appreciate your understanding that it's just one plot point of a large story. I can't thank you enough for only reacting to it and questioning it. Your support means a lot to me and although I can't blame you for leaving this story because it's not what you thought it would be, I want to thank you nonetheless. I promise that everything in this story has been planned and that the plot point revealed last chapter was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. I promise your questions will be answered if you stay and I promise a happy ending if you can stick with me through all the middle.**

**Thank you again,**

**-fatefulfaerie**

* * *

It was like lava, the way it bubbled and popped, boiled red, hot and scolding. It rose, cascading and cascading, like any anger, building upon itself, pressurized and tempered to burst. Link's heavy breaths were like a volcano ready to explode, his fists balling, reddening and whitening.

With a shaky frustration, he looked at the back of his hand, his fingers tensing at the sight of two triangles.

He shook his head with quick jolts as his hand lowered to his side, Link absolutely shaking with anger.

"Link…" Groose tried with a step forward.

There was a reason why Groose didn't want to be the one to tell him. In the hypothetical scenario that Link woke up, which they had taken to discussing ever since the miscarriage occurred, he never knew what he would say.

Obviously, Groose never learned since then.

Link turned around and bursted through the doors to the outside, Groose releasing a sigh and following him.

His hand was on a wall, as if braced against it with a bowed head and his other hand in his face. Link's shoulders were shaking, cluing Groose into the fact that he was likely crying.

Groose didn't know what to say, so he just stood behind Link with a bowed head. He and everybody else had so much time to mourn and yet Link had been pushed right into it. The sadness Groose was feeling even now, just being reminded of the experience, was surely nothing to Link's.

"Link, I…" Groose started. "I know you're feeling a lot of things right now…I've felt them too. Nothing, I'm sure, to what you're feeling now…I can't even imagine."

He took a cautious step forward.

"Just don't blame yourself for what happened," Groose entreated. "It's not your fault. We tried everything we could, it…was out of anyone's control."

There was a sniffle in the silence that followed, Groose figuring Link wouldn't reply.

"No," Link said, to Groose's surprise. "I don't blame myself for that, for the mih…"

His words faltered when he tried to say it.

"For what you said," he relayed instead, turning his head slightly. "I blame myself for not being there."

"Link, no," Groose said with slow shakes of his head. "You can't—"

"She was in pain, Groose!" Link yelled as he stood up completely, facing Groose. "Deep, deep pain! I know you know! I know you were there, you must have been! I can see it in your eyes and I can't thank you enough for that. But I wasn't! I wasn't there!"

"I promised," he said his voice breaking. "I promised her…from the very beginning I promised I would be there for her."

Another resurgence of tears followed as Link clamped his eyes, averting his gaze.

He walked off to the clearing, Groose following silently.

Link whistled for his Loftwing and mounted it, but he didn't fly off. His head was bowed as Groose approached.

"I failed her," Link said solemnly.

Groose crossed his arms. Him and Zelda really were meant for each other, the way they blamed themselves for the others' suffering. He had just gotten months of Zelda blaming herself and now, he supposed, it was Link's turn.

Not that Zelda had stopped.

"No, you didn't," Groose said. "The Triforce is safe and secure in the Sacred Realm, right? You did what you set out to do?"

Link nodded.

"Okay then, see?" Groose asked rhetorically. "Success. You didn't fail anyone."

Link didn't respond, no affirmation, no agreement as Groose whistled for his own Loftwing.

"So this is what she meant," Link said, the sadness ingrained in his voice.

"Who?"

"The six months that passed," Link said. "It was nothing in that realm and Farore hinted at why. I didn't understand at the time, but…it's easier not to get involved in our lives, attached to our well-being and their potential power in it if it flies by right before them. I was there for less than an hour, but more time and years could have passed. For them, I suppose just one day is decades upon each other. From her perspective, I'm long dead and Hyrule is in a different age entirely. I suppose I should be thankful that it was only six months."

"Are you?" Groose asked. His Loftwing was waiting patiently, but he hadn't mounted it, listening to, studying Link with concern.

"No," Link said in reply. "I'm not."

Groose nodded silently, mounting his Loftwing.

"I don't think I ever could be thankful," Link continued. "Those six months…I once joked at our youth, saying that we had so much time before us that I wasn't worried about losing it."

Link paused.

"I should have been."


	30. Hesitance

"How did you know I was going to wake up?" Link asked Groose, wind whipping through their hair as they flew on their Loftwings.

Groose shrugged.

"I didn't," he said. "We kept you in the temple in case you needed to be close to the sword, it being the gateway after all. We usually took turns checking up on you every day, the four of us. Well, at first it was just me and Pipit but recently it's been Karane and Zelda too. Long story short, it was my turn."

The conversation lagged.

"She's probably in your house," Groose said as their Loftwings came up upon the patch of the Surface that Link remembered as home. "She doesn't really go out much."

Groose could see Link readying his Loftwing to dive.

"Wait," he cautioned, Link looking to the knight, still leaned forward.

"Before you go down there…" Groose started. "Skyloft has moved down to the Surface…to Hyrule. No one is on the island anymore."

Link only looked at Groose, waiting for him to continue. His expression was hesitant, so Link waited.

Groose released a sigh.

"You know you two have been in the public eye for a while," he said. "Word was already out about her being pregnant and when you fell asleep and people started to move down here…your absence was hard to hide. Before long, it slipped that you weren't around."

"What did they think?" Link asked.

"It got to the point where no mission would have meant your absence was that long," Groose explained. "Some say you left her alone and without her virtue, but most think you'd have rather died. I mean, you know the protocol for knights missing in action after a certain time. Of course we always knew the truth, but the rest of the citizens…"

"Think I'm dead," Link said as he leaned back so that his back was straight.

"Again, we knew the truth but even then…your funeral felt very real."

"It's not like you could tell them the truth," Link reasoned, trying to excuse the guilt he heard in Groose's voice.

"Zelda was adamant about that," Groose said in reply. "Not telling them the truth, saying that it was the whole point of the Sacred Realm, to keep it all secret."

Link nodded.

"For now, we just have to make sure no one sees you," Groose said. "Obviously Karane, Pipit, and Zelda know the truth, but everyone else…"

"What about her father?" Link asked.

Groose gave a small smile, the first one Link had seen since he woke up.

"Furious, at first," Groose said. "He finally heard that you were gone and came to your house to get an explanation from Zelda, or kill you if you were somehow there."

Link was at least glad he missed that, his expression fearful. That man was quite large and very strong. Link would die quickly.

"But, the complications with the pregnancy had started hours before that," Groose continued. "He walked into the chaos and soon forgot about killing you. We later told him everything, since he already knew about the Triforce. He's been waiting for you just like the rest of us."

"With a hatchet, I assume."

Groose let out a small laugh.

"I've missed your sarcasm," Groose said. "There haven't been many jokes around here recently."

Link gave a small smile.

"So basically keep hidden from everyone who doesn't know I'm not dead," Link reviewed.

"Yep," Groose said with a nod.

And with that, they both dove down to Hyrule, the settlement becoming much clearer.

There were tons of houses dotted among the Northern fields, an entire civilization bustling as Link got a better view. It was much bigger than Skyloft, more land allowing them to spread out, grow crops, explore their livelihood.

Scanning the town, Link soon spotted a familiar row of three houses near the Southern outskirts, aiming for the clearing before them that, luckily, seemed a good distance away from the main hub of Skyloft, or whatever this new town was called.

For all Link knew, its name could have been Groosetown.

He hoped not as he landed, him and Groose both sliding off their Loftwings and heading to Link and Zelda's house.

It seemed like he was just here a few hours ago as he approached the familiar wooden door.

Link placed a hand on the knob and froze.

"Whatever you're thinking, Link," Groose said. "You're wrong."

Link nodded.

It was for that very reason why he didn't say how scared he was, because Groose would tell him that he had no reason to be.

So, he opened the door, Groose following as he stepped in.

He was so excited and yet so nervous. A part of him still swimming with a kept denial and anger over their lost child and a familiar part of him just wanting to see Zelda.

The house was just like he'd left it, when he had given it one last over-dramatic look for posterity. There were some new shelves in the back corner, but really it was the same. The sunlight gave the living room a fair amount of light as he walked through slowly, eyeing nothing in particular. The couches and the chairs were all the same, the way they were placed. Link wondered at why he expected it to be any different.

Link stopped at a small, framed painting of the two of them, picking it up and studying it.

It was their wedding day, happy and hopeful. He remembered the person who painted it told them it had to be a position they could hold. Commonly, wedding portraits were done with straight faces for this very reason. That's why their large, natural smiles now warmed his heart as he looked upon the pair of them. Zelda hugged his waist and their heads were tipped inwards, towards each other. He remembered kissing her afterwards for surely the millionth time that day and he remembered that he held that smile for the rest of the night, as if forgetting that the concept of a frown existed at all.

He inwardly admitted his distraction with a shake of his head and attempted to place the small painting right where it was.

Link headed up the stairs slowly, Groose hanging back in wait with a bowed head.

He faced the door to their bedroom, left ajar. Link placed a hand on it and took a deep breath, telling himself that everything would be fine.

"Zelda," he said, quietly and cautiously pushing open the door.

His fearful eyes calmed in an instant. There was still a sadness to them, flakes of grief in the blue, yet he couldn't help a smile at the sight of her frame.

Zelda was sleeping on her side, knees tucked and head on the pillow. Her golden-yellow hair was splayed every which way behind her head and her arms rested carelessly near her chest.

Link started to tear up as he approached slowly.

Captivated by her outer beauty and harnessed by her inner pain, his fingers trailed the edge of the bed until he knelt before her face. His arms crossed on top of the mattress.

Link imagined unlocking her eyelids, releasing those blue gems, seeing them shine along with her smile. He imagined gently touching her shoulder, her cheek, coaxing her awake and prompting the brightness that always filled any room. Even in her darkened and saddened state, she was sure to bring him light. He wondered whether he would grant her the same pleasure as he looked at her with an unrelenting love.

He wanted to invite himself in, part her lips with his, caress and soothe every inch of her pained skin with his very own fingers. He wanted to hug her and cuddle her, swaddle her in his love and care until she woke up with a smile, laughing with the joy of a newlywed.

But he couldn't bring himself to wake her, no matter how much he wanted to, to interrupt her peaceful rest and replace it with a summoned sadness, an anger, a hatred.

So he didn't.

Link stood up and it felt as if his heart stayed with her down where she lay, pulling him closer in. He longed to be her light, but feared that his presence would yield resentment, a darkness that would only add to her pain.

He gave a sigh with closed eyes.

As they opened, Link couldn't help but drift them down to her stomach, how small it was.

Was she even eating?

With one last concerned gaze at her sleeping frame, he left quietly, making sure to make no noise as he descended down the stairs.

"Is she not there?" Groose asked with a popped up head.

"She's sleeping," Link said.

"So?" Groose asked, following Link with his eyes as he approached. "Wake her up."

Link shook his head.

"Couldn't."

"Link, I don't think you understand—"

Link suddenly shot Groose with a glare, those blue eyes like flames in their anguish.

"She's at peace in her dreams," Link said. "Reality will return soon enough. I can't assume it will be a happy reunion."

Groose sighed.

"Come on," he said as he made his way to the exit.

"I thought you said we couldn't go into town," Link said with a furrowed brow.

Groose had already opened the door. He looked back to Link.

"Zelda and I aren't the only people who missed you, Link."


	31. Reality

"So, are you still with Orielle?" Link asked as they approached the house neighboring Link's.

"No," Groose said in reply. "No, I'm not."

It was obvious Link was expecting the opposite answer.

"Oh," Link said, regretting bringing it up and not pressing any further.

"She could tell I was keeping secrets," Groose said anyway. "And to be fair, I was. At a certain point, us getting to know each other meant her learning about Impa, the Sheikah, the Triforce, everything that had happened that I just couldn't tell her. So, she told me she couldn't trust me if I couldn't trust her and that was that."

"I'm sorry," Link said.

Groose sighed.

"It's not your fault," the burly knight replied, them now at Karane and Pipit's door. "I suppose it was inevitable."

"If you could have told her," Link said. "Would you have?"

"Yeah," Groose said with sadness. "I would have. That and…other things…"

Link inhaled to repeat his apology as Groose reached for the doorknob, it apparent that he didn't want to discuss it any further. He watched Groose open the door to Karane and Pipit's house.

"You don't knock?" Link asked.

"They usually don't have the free hands to come to the door," Groose said casually, inviting himself in as they both stepped through the doorway.

"Karane?" Link heard Pipit call out from an entirely different room. "Is that you?"

"Not even close!" Groose yelled back.

"I'm surprised you're back so early, Groose," Pipit said as he used his shoulder to nudge through the half-open door. "You're usually at the temple for atlea…"

Pipit froze completely, Link taking a slow, shaky inhale at the tiny little boy in his arms.

The baby had fuzzy brown hair atop his head, the same shade as Pipit's, and blue eyes shaped like his mother Karane. His small head was drooped onto Pipit's shoulder, yet his blue eyes fixated on Link.

"Link," Pipit finally said.

He looked from Link to the child, then back to Link.

"I…I'm sorry," Pipit said, before placing his three month-old son in a nearby wooden crib. "If…if I knew you were coming I…"

Link cleared his throat.

"No, that's okay," Link said. "Don't…don't apologize."

Pipit walked forward eagerly, hugging Link. This one was more formal and more anticipated than Groose's, so Link knew to return it as it was happening.

"It's so good to have you back," Pipit remarked as he released. That sadness was in his eyes, too. They had all changed. "Have you seen Zelda yet? Don't tell me you came here first."

"She was sleeping so…"

The three month-old in the crib started to wail, interrupting Link and prompting Pipit to rush to hold him.

Link tried to help his jealousy as Pipit soothed his son.

"Sorry," Pipit said. "I've been trying to get Ol to sleep. Please, make yourself at home."

Link and Groose sat on the couches.

"O-Ol?" Link asked.

He didn't really feel like asking the question, but he felt it would break the ice nonetheless. The ice that chilled him with that jealousy, that Karane and Pipit had a child, a healthy birth, and Link and Zelda did not.

Link braced his hands on his thighs. He'd have to get past it eventually, these being dear friends. It's not like they did anything on purpose.

"Oliver," Pipit said. "His full name."

"That's cute," Link said with a small smile, the baby substantially calmed by now.

Pipit gave a sigh.

"Link, I really didn't mean to flaunt…"

Link shook his head, stopping Pipit.

"It's really fine," Link said in reply.

"Pipit!" Karane exclaimed as she entered the house, carrying a rather full bag of assorted food. "Can you help me with the groceries?"

"Sure," Pipit piped back, already halfway to her.

They looked at each other, one with a heavy bag and one with a baby.

"Trade?" She asked.

"Karane, you might not want to be holding Ol right now," Pipit said.

"Why not?" Karane asked before her glance shifted slightly to their company.

Karane dropped the bag immediately, all sorts of food splattering the floor as she noticed Link with wide eyes.

"That's why," Pipit said, looking at the mess.

"Oh goddesses!" She said, placing both hands on her mouth.

"Link!" She exclaimed before racing to him and hugging him where he sat on the couch. "What a miracle! We were so worried!"

Link chuckled as she released him, sitting right next to him in the couch.

"Did you go to Zelda?" She pressed, Karane waiting for an answer intently.

Groose had started to clean up the mess and salvage what was still edible while Pipit resigned himself to putting Oliver asleep in the bedroom.

"She was asleep," Link said. "I…I didn't want to wake her in case…I don't know."

"I told him he should have," they heard Groose add.

"No, I think you were right to let her sleep," Karane said. "Sometimes it's hard for her. But with you here, maybe she can finally start to heal."

"Can you tell me more about what happened? Before she wakes up?" Link asked.

Karane sighed, her eyes blinking into sadness.

"It was a hard time for all of us," Karane sighed. "We didn't know at all if or when you would wake up. Just that was enough to send us all into sadness, not to mention seeing Zelda keep up her hope for your return…it was hard to watch her disappointment, everyday."

Link's gaze went downward.

"The miscarriage wasn't too long after you fell asleep," Karane continued. "She was four months along when she started to feel a considerable amount of pain. Greba…the rest of us…we tried everything we could, but at a certain point it was inevitable. She was distraught, as anyone would be, not to mention it being quite the traumatic experience. We were all there to help her through it but…it broke my heart to hear her call out for you in her delirium. She was in so much pain, both physical and emotional…it was a long process for her to stop feeling both. Even now she still feels the latter greatly."

"So, the five months after…" Link prompted. "How has she been?"

"She was quick to deny the truth until she accepted it after a few days," Karane answered. "She was unresponsive the first month, but she got better, actually almost normal until recently."

"Recently?"

"She knows this is around the time she was due. She isn't unresponsive anymore, but she isn't herself. With her husband gone indefinitely and her child gone as well, she…she just…"

"Shut down," Link finished.

Karane nodded.

"Is she okay?" Link asked. "I mean…has she been eating? Taking care of herself?"

"I've made sure of that," Karane said with a great confidence. "She just doesn't have the motivation for a lot of things. Before I saw you I was worried she wouldn't get it back."

Link buried his face in his hands.

"This is all my fault," Link said. "I should have been here. I promised I would, no matter what."

"Link, you know better than anyone that if you had control over the situation, you would have been here. Zelda knows that too. She has waited for you with a great hope in her heart."

Link's hands fell to dangle off his knees, looking at nothing in front of him.

"What about Oliver?" Link asked without turning his head. "How did she feel when you gave birth two months after her miscarriage?"

Karane sighed.

"She said it didn't bother her, but I could tell it did. She's happy for us, but I don't think she can help being jealous. I don't blame her or you for feeling that way."

Link nodded, feeling Karane's supportive hand place itself on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She asked. "Stepping into all this can't be easy."

Link's hands found each other, entangling his fingers.

"I'll be fine," he said. "I think I just need to see her, actually talk to her, you know."

"I think so too," Karane said, her hand sliding off his shoulder as he stood up to leave.

He took a couple steps before he turned his head to Karane.

"Can you come?" He asked. "Maybe tell her gently?"

Karane nodded with a smile.

"Of course."

* * *

Karane closed the door behind her, entering Zelda's room as she saw her blue eyes drift open in awakening.

"Hey," Karane said softly as she sat down on the bed. "Did you sleep well?"

Zelda nodded.

"How are you feeling?"

Zelda didn't sit up, eyes dull and sad.

She blinked a couple times before replying with,

"Fine."

More tears came to Link when he heard the despondency in her voice, him and Groose just outside the door.

"Groose, I…she…"

"Don't even start, Link," Groose said, knowing exactly that Link was about to voice his guilt for her sadness.

"I have something to tell you," Karane said. "But I want you to be calm when you hear it. Can you do that for me?"

Zelda nodded, sitting up against the back of the bed.

"Link is awake."

She closed her eyes with a sigh, tears starting to fall.

"Would you like to see him?" Karane asked.

Zelda shook her head 'no'.

"That's okay," Karane said softly.

"Does he know?" Zelda said, her voice a squeak as she cried.

Karane nodded.

"Yes, he knows."

A sniffle of her nose confirmed to Link that she was, indeed, crying. Link stepped forward to rush to her side without a thought. Yet, Groose placed his arm in front of Link to stop him, Link reminded of Zelda's wishes.

Link's tears started to fall quicker, bringing a hand to his mouth.

"Is there anything you would like me to tell him?" Karane asked gently.

Zelda sniffled her nose to try to compose herself, her voice coming out wobbly.

"No, I…" she said. "I can't."

Karane nodded, stealing a glance at the crack in the doorway Zelda paid no mind.

"If there was something he wanted to say to you," Karane started to ask. "Would you want to hear it?"

Zelda's eyes perked up for a second at the thought, before they lowered once again.

She shook her head 'no'.

"Okay," Karane said as she stood up. "I'll bring you over some dinner in a bit, and then maybe after we can go on our walk."

Zelda relented a small smile before nodding.

Karane returned the smile, taking Zelda's hand and squeezing it before she stood up to leave. Zelda sat in new-fangled thoughts as she hugged her knees close to her chest.

When Karane opened the door to Link and Groose, one was crying on the other's shoulder.

Karane was stunned for a moment, having never seen Link really cry before, at least not to this extent. She wagered it was everything coming out at once, all the emotions of the entire situation that had been built up and suppressed.

"Oh, Link," she said with a deep concern, placing a hand on his shoulder. Her and Groose shared a look of sadness for the poor man, clutching at Groose's tunic.

"Let's get him downstairs," Karane prompted. "He'll be more comfortable there."


	32. Forgoing the Gesture

**!Trigger Warning!: very slight description of miscarriage**

* * *

It felt like a long embarrassing while before Link had composed himself enough to talk, to stop crying, to tell Groose and Karane to go about the rest of their day and for goodness sake not look at him with that pity.

He now sat on his couch rather normally, reading some book about Loftwings that was on a desk near him. Every so often he would look up at Zelda's door, wonder if she was awake, if she knew he was here, if she would come out of the room.

But then he would surrender his hope, returning to the book of things he likely already knew about their winged friends.

Yet at the point he found himself skimming and not reading, turning pages faster than he should have, and checking how much is left in the book, he knew he had lost his concentration, his focus.

With a sigh, he placed the book down on the table, his gaze unfocused.

He thought upon her and her silence, her inaction before something occurred to him with a blink of his eyes, the blue settling from a previous chaos. His next inhale portended an exhale just as slow at the realization, his gaze shifting to the upstairs door.

Link stood up and paced up the stairs, going to the door left ajar, but not opening it. His hand was on the railing as he stood before the door, taking the moment to summon his bravery, his courage.

"We really do wait for the gestures, don't we?" Link finally said, asking rhetorically and hoping Zelda was awake and listening. "I…didn't really realize it until now…until I was sitting and waiting for you to come out, or for me to gain the courage to come in. I wouldn't be surprised if you were expecting the same. I guess this just proves how bad we are at communicating, us in our own places, rehearsing too much in our heads what will happen next that it never comes to pass. I know all that won't do, so here are my words instead, my unrehearsed, blubbering, prattling words."

"I love you," he said. "You are everything to me and no matter how much…"

His voice broke. He thought he had exhausted his tears by now, but he supposed he was wrong.

"No matter how much I wanted to hold our child, raise them, and see what they would become without us…no matter how much I will miss them and mourn them…I will still love you. I told you once that nothing would ever change how I feel and now more than ever my heart aches for you, for your pain. Grand gestures won't work because you have to let me back in. It is your pain that I'm stepping into, and your right as well to deny me and my words. If I was gone too long for you to love me like I do you—"

"Link…"

It sounded like she was right behind the door.

"I was," he insisted. "I was gone too long. I made a promise and broke it. Such deep pain and I slept while you bled…literally…"

"I don't blame you for that," Zelda said in reply. "Really, I don't. And I… _of course_ I want you back. For six months I wanted you back, but…I just couldn't. When Karane told me, I just couldn't fathom it because…because I was afraid you'd hate me."

"Zelda, I love you no less than I did six months ago. How could I hate you?"

"Because I hate me."

Link only sighed, his forehead meeting the door between them.

"And you must too," she continued. "I disappointed you. It's my fault, it must be."

"No," Link said, leaning his head away as he shook it. "Zel, that's not true. I don't blame you at all. I'm disappointed, sure, but not in you. You are _so_ strong for making it through all of this and I am so proud that you have, that you are alive and healthy. I could never, _ever_ hate you."

"Link?"

"Yeah?" he prompted.

The door started to open, Zelda coming out slowly with a bowed head.

She looked up at Link, her throat almost immediately choking into a sob. It was really him, his blue eyes, his messy hair, unrestrained by the green cap. Zelda threw her arms around his neck, crying and weeping into his shoulder.

It was these shoulders, these shoulders she missed so much. It was the feeling of his warm and safe hands, like a dream too good to be true. It was his soft breath, his exhale and inhale from his mouth, the way he breathed alive and awake, the way his heart beat with hers. It was his hair and his ears that she now felt with her hands, that seemed as a distant memory to her fingers, deprived of the sensation like a great hunger. She missed him more than words could say.

Link cried like her, more and more as he held her tight, clutching her hair, her dress, smelling that flowery scent he had ached for. He was so glad she was okay as he pressed a kiss into the side of her head.

"I wanted," she said between sobs. "I wanted…so much…"

Link only had the composure to sniffle.

"You gave me a life to protect and I…couldn't…"

Her voice faltered.

"It's okay," Link said shakily, holding her tight. "It's okay."

"Everything is okay," Link continued, his voice gentle as he comforted her in their hold. "I'm home. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."

"Even though I failed you?" Zelda asked. "Even though you have every reason to hate me?"

"I'm staying by your side for the very reason I always have," Link replied. "Because I have every reason to love you."

She kept her silence, taking in his words as her eyes drifted open.

"Zel, you are so much more than what happened," Link insisted. "You know that and even if you've forgotten, if what you went through has drowned your pride, then I will tell you over and over again. You are so much more than what you couldn't control."

"You know I wanted us to have a child," Link continued. "And that I was looking forward to the day I would meet them. But just because that day is no longer approaching us, that doesn't mean you are worth _any_ less to me. I didn't marry you because I wanted children, I married you because of how much I love you. _You_ , your intelligence, your bright smile, your strength and resilience after everything you've been through, your unconditional capacity for forgiveness, your sense of justice, your commitment towards peace…I could go on and on. I love _every_ little part of you and I know I always will. I know I can't convince you out of your self-loathing with just my love, but if you know me, you know I will try the best I can."

"I know," Zelda said as they released each other just enough to see their faces, them both weeping as they looked into each others' eyes.

"Oh Link," Zelda said, her sore eyes transfixed by the very sight of his face, the love in his blue eyes. She placed a hand on his wet cheek. "I was so sure that you would hate me…that I forgot how much you loved me."

" _Love_ , Zel," Link corrected. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Zelda pulled Link's lips into hers, every fear, every sadness melting away for just this moment and the next as well, them continuing with a great impatience. Their lips, their breaths became one until they withdrew, her forehead meeting his.

"Karane promised to bring me dinner," Zelda said. "I say we stay in, eat, catch up."

Link nodded, breaching a smile.

So they talked all night.

Zelda about the last six months, about everything Link had missed, about the Sheikah preferring to stay in their caves, about Groose and his break up, about her father, about Karane and Pipit and their son, about the town that was apparently not named Groosetown. It was simply referred to as Hyrule township.

They talked about Link, what happened in the Sacred Realm, who he met there, what he saw, and what he was told, Zelda taking furious notes like she was back in school. Link smiled at her enthusiasm.

Link and Zelda talked and talked, Zelda more than relieved that he was back, that he didn't hate her and that he was just as she remembered.

But what she didn't tell him was what she couldn't and he completely understood.

"It's okay, Zel," Link said, bringing a hand to hers. "Your miscarriage…you can tell me about it on your own time. There's no rush."

Zelda nodded.

"Thank you," she said before the conversation fell to silence.

"I do want one," she said, "a baby. I don't think I could handle…trying…anytime soon, but even then…"

Link eyes were on her fingers, looking at the way his thumb trailed up and down her finger, the smoothness only stopped by her wedding ring.

"What if," she said, Link looking up quickly when she heard she was welling up again. "What if this means I never can? That my body isn't strong enough."

"I don't believe that for a second," Link said.

Zelda sniffled her nose, tears starting to fall at the thought.

Link's concern grew, moving himself to sit against the head of the bed. Zelda without any other prompt, curled up next to him and felt his arm start to curl around her.

Yet when he brushed her stomach, she twitched away ever so slightly, Link noticing and retreating his hand.

He looked to her eyes, asking a silent question in such a way she knew she didn't have to answer.

"I'm sorry," she said, meeting his hand where it was placed on his thigh. "I…think I'm just a bit sensitive."

"Are you in pain?" Link asked.

"No," Zelda assured him, "just…unaccustomed."

Zelda led his hand to touch her stomach, wincing at what felt like a distant memory before the familiarity returned. Link curled his arm around her waist and both of their hearts warmed at the touch of the other, the intimacy.

"I understand that you don't want to talk about it yet, but," Link started. "I have to know at the very least…what did Greba say about it? Are you okay? Should I be worried?"

Zelda let a shaky exhale.

"It wasn't anything that endangers me now," Zelda started. "It…"

Her voice broke.

"Zel, it's okay," Link said rubbing her arm in comfort. "That's all I need to know."

She came out of Link's hold to reach for the nightstand, opening the small drawer and pulling out a piece of paper. Snuggling back into Link's frame, she handed him the paper.

"She wrote this in case you came back and she wasn't around. You could always ask her more about it tomorrow when it isn't so late, but this explains it pretty well."

Link took it cautiously, unfolding it and sitting up slightly to start reading what it said.

"Can you read it out loud?" Zelda asked. "I miss hearing your voice."

Link nodded.

"Zelda experienced a miscarriage," Link started shakily, "as a result of a weak cervix. Something hard to tell until the moment it widens prematurely. The incident led to a complete miscarriage of the fetus, which would have never survived outside the womb. Because the situation was diffused in a timely manner, the danger to Zelda was also diffused."

"Oh, Zel," Link said with an exhale.

"Keep reading," Zelda prompted.

"As far as her health going forward, I do not doubt that with time and care she will heal, both physically and emotionally. In fact, because of her age, it is highly possible that her cervix will recover. With the help of Orielle, my assistant and trainee, we have already taken measures to repair the small amount of damage with the moderate use of potions and other treatments. We hope this will strengthen it as well. This recovery is referring to reducing pain but also to future conception. Before I write anything more I must admit that the confidence I have in her recovery is alluding to mine and may be biased. The reason why I was so quick to recognize the problem in the moment was because it is what occurred in my own pregnancy, the one before conceiving Gondo. If Zelda conceives again and the situation is closely monitored and supplemented with potions like mine was, it is possible for her to have a healthy birth. This is, of course, considering her mental health is up to the task that is, speaking from experience, quite taxing. Please assure her once more that the situation was out of her control and of no fault of hers."

Link looked to her with tears in his eyes, having reached the end.

"But I can't help but fear that it was," she finished, as if responding to the letter. "That I can't…"

"Zelda," Link said. "You are the strongest person I know. I know you feel weak and I know what happened to you has likely scarred you for life, but…that only makes you stronger."

"And if it makes me weaker?" Zelda asked. "If I can never have a child?"

Link gave a sigh.

"Then I will still love you," he said. He held her tight in his arms.

"I can't believe you thought I could ever hate you for this," he continued. "I'm actually a little surprised that you don't hate _me_."

With her next slow exhale, Zelda closed her eyes, feeling as if she could melt into him.

"I could never hate you," Zelda said. "I love you so much."

* * *

**Author's Note: Hi, just a couple things.**

**Maybe this chapter was too graphic with that letter, I don't know. I just wanted to give a solid reason backed by science (how strange) so people wouldn't be left wondering why she miscarried.**

**If the few select words that I'm worried about really bothered you, then please let me know. I already put a trigger warning at the beginning of the chapter but if you think I need to change the wording or even the rating of the story, then I will definitely consider it. It's not that I don't trust myself to do the right thing or that I depend on my audience to make decisions for me, but if there is anything I can do to make current or future readers more comfortable, I would like to do so. Again, a few words are not that big of a deal and I know I overreact, but in case they are more inappropriate or triggering than I intended, I wanted you all to know that I am willing to compensate for that.**

**I also wanted to mention that this fic will not always be doom and gloom. There are ups and downs and unfortunately, these past few chapters have been a big down for our characters. I still promise a happy ending.**

**-fatefulfaerie**


	33. Strength

Link opened his eyes with a moan. It seemed after sleeping for six months, his body just didn't want to anymore.

From his view, he could see the color of the sky out the window.

Black.

Or, at least, the darkest blue he'd ever seen. He always wondered how anyone could wake up at such ungoddessly hours. Now, he knew it must have been because they had no choice.

Link flipped over to his back, breathing out an exhale and staring at the ceiling. He was wide awake and he hated it.

He looked to his other side, expecting to see his wife sleeping soundly. Link grumbled something indistinguishable when he noticed her complete absence, coaxing himself to go against every fiber in his being and sit up.

Link tried to remain calm. Both Groose and Zelda had told him that his worst tendency was to assume the worst, so he didn't.

He didn't rush out with his sword and foolishly run yelling through town.

He walked out calmly with his sword, priding himself on the minuscule difference. His sword and shield were equipped to his backside as he closed the door to the very early morning sky with his pajamas on.

Link gave one last look at the note Zelda had left on her nightstand, assuring himself that she had, indeed, left, that she was not taken and not in danger.

He placed it back in his pocket as he moved towards the town as stealthily as possible. The note had warned that he wait for her return, so that no one else saw him, but he didn't listen.

Luckily, it was at an hour where no one was really around, Link making his way easily to the Sparring Hall Zelda claimed as her destination.

As he walked in, he saw her, an amused smile gracing his features as he stopped and leaned on a side of the doorway with crossed arms.

Zelda was a holding a sword, but it was apparently too heavy as she dragged it towards a log in the center of the room, the tip gliding along the floor.

Link was able to contain his first laugh, Zelda paying her husband's presence no mind.

She was preparing herself to swing it now, bending her legs with her shoulders angled way too far back.

With her one swing, the swords' tip went from one part of the floor to another, it looking like nothing had changed.

Link couldn't contain his next chuckle.

Zelda turned quickly, her face scrunching into anger.

"Don't laugh!" She said petulantly.

"I'm not laughing, no," Link said, trying to stifle it. Zelda dropped the sword completely and approached him.

"Your lips are twitching upwards," Zelda said. "And who am I if not an expert on those things?"

"Expert, huh?" Link said before Zelda kissed him to prove her point.

"Did anyone see you?" Zelda asked.

Link shook his head.

"Barely anyone is around at this hour," he explained.

"Eventually, we'll have to figure this out," Zelda said. "What to tell everyone…it's not going to be easy."

"How about we start with what in Hyrule you are doing in here?"

Zelda closed her eyes and took a deep breath before admitting,

"I want to learn how to fight."

"Fight?" Link asked with a slight laugh. "Who are you going to fight?"

But Zelda was dead serious.

Link cleared his throat.

"Zel, not only is there no threat to be had, but…even if there is, I can protect you."

"As romantic as that is, Link, I…well I just want to know! I want to know how to fight! I…I'm tired of feeling weak."

"I don't know…" Link said.

"Karane knows how to fight," Zelda argued.

"Karane was trained at the Academy," Link said. "During those last two years we both decided to not do because we were moving to the Surface, remember?"

"All the more reason I should make up for it now," she said.

"Zel…"

"Come on," Zelda said, backing away teasingly with a smile. "You know you want to teach me."

His eyes lit up at the sight.

"I was hoping I'd see you smile again," he said as he returned the expression.

"But I don't want you getting hurt," Link reasoned as he walked forward.

"I won't," she said, holding out her pinkie. "I swear. Pinkie promise."

Link crossed his arms and tipped his head.

"Pinkie promise? Really?" He asked. "You're nineteen."

But she didn't move, only flexing and bending her pinkie as if to make it more tantalizing.

He gave a sigh.

Link latched his pinkie with hers with a strong grip before using it to pull her into another kiss.

"That how the nineteen year-olds make promises?" Zelda asked out of it. "I'm only a recent addition to the group, you know."

Link shrugged.

"I've been asleep for the first half of my nineteenth year," Link said. "I couldn't tell you."

Zelda bounded back to the sword, holding its' hilt with the tip still weighted to the floor. Link marveled at her enthusiasm, the difference between her yesterday and her today. Of course she could never perfectly heal from her trauma that fast, but him being back got her to at least smile and be excited about something. It was a step in the right direction and if he was her light to shine through the darkness of what she went through, then he was determined to shine as bright as the rising sun.

"Okay," she said with bent legs facing the log. "How do I fight?"

"Not like that," Link said.

"Then how?" Zelda said with a turn of her head to her shoulder.

"First of all," Link said, his chest up against her back. He placed his hand where hers was on the hilt, it lingering for just a second of indulgement. He gently forced it out of her hand, Zelda watching with awe as he picked it up off the floor with little effort, like it was some stick. "This sword is too heavy for you."

"No, it's not," Zelda said, taking it as in insult.

"Zel, you're not going to learn anything if you can't even get it up off the floor," He said before turning to a collection of swords on the side of the room. "I'll start you off with something you can carry."

He came back with one that was leaner and shorter, yet still quite the sword, Zelda eyeing it as he knelt down, offering it to her ceremoniously hilt-first.

"For you," Link said. "First official knight of Hyrule."

Zelda smiled, shaking her head and taking the sword. Link stayed kneeling as she tested its weight, slightly throwing and dropping it back into her hand.

"How's that?" Link asked.

Zelda took the sword to one of Link shoulders and then the other.

"Good," she said. "If I couldn't hold it, you'd be seriously scraped up by now."

"True," Link said as he stood up and backed away. Zelda readied her stance in front of the log. It was much improved now that she could actually hold the sword. Link could tell she was basing it off of how Link normally stood for battle.

"First we'll try a vertical slice," Link said. "swinging the sword from high to low."

Zelda did just that, making a dent in the top of the log.

"Is that it, did I do it?" She asked excitedly.

"That was good," Link said, Zelda looking to him.

"Then why do you have that face?"

"You're supposed to split the log," Link said before stammering, "b-but this is a great start, don't get me wrong."

"Let me try again," she said, facing the log once more and readying herself.

"By all means," Link said.

"Hyaah!" She exclaimed, this time jumping with it as well.

The log still didn't split, only making more of a dent at the top.

"What was that?" Link asked.

"That's what you do," Zelda reasoned. "I thought maybe it would help. Good to know it has no purpose."

"I do not say that," Link insisted.

"Yes," she said with a laugh. "You do."

"All right," he said offering his hand. "I'll prove it to you."

Zelda handed him the sword with a smirk, Link taking it with a strong grip. Zelda crossed her arms where she stood at a distance.

Assuming a battle stance, Link took a deep breath to prepare himself, twirling the sword instinctually.

"Hyaah!" He exclaimed as he jumped into the air and, with the greatest ease, split the log completely in half with one vertical downward stroke.

"See?" She asked. "You make a noise."

"I suppose you have a point," he said with a sigh, offering the hilt of the sword back to her. "I can get another log out if you want to try again."

"Actually, can you get out one of those targets?" Zelda said. "I want to try shooting an arrow."

"Zel," he said with a chuckle. "It's one thing to swing a sword, but shooting an arrow…"

She had already taken the sword back and replaced it with a bow and arrow.

"Can't be too hard," she said, testing it out. The arrow tip slowly drifted away from the bow, Zelda hurriedly keeping it in place with her finger.

Link smiled, going to pull out a target, painted red and white.

He loved her, but seriously doubted that an arrow would go anywhere near the target on her first day.

"How's that?" Link asked, looking to her, Zelda squinting her eyes as she peered along the notched arrow.

"Farther," she said without moving a muscle.

Link chuckled.

"Okay," he said as he went behind it and pulled it back. "It's okay if you don't get it the first try, Zel. Make sure your stance is—"

He suddenly heard a whizz that stopped very suddenly, Link's eyes widening.

Link went around to the other side of the target. With a gaping mouth his gaze went from the arrow sunken into the very center circle to Zelda, who was lowering the bow with a smirk.

"Uhmm…woah!" He exclaimed as he approached her. "What was that?"

"I shot the arrow," Zelda stated as if it were simple.

"Well yeah, but…" he looked back to the arrow. "But that was so good, h-how?"

Zelda shrugged.

"I don't know," she said. "Hylia was proficient in many weapons. I guess that was the one that stuck."

"You-" He said as he faced Zelda. "You haven't shot an arrow in thousands of years? Not even when I was asleep?"

She shook her head.

"Nope," Zelda said before smiling and continuing teasingly. "You're so surprised. Don't think a woman can handle herself in combat?"

"Please," Link said. "Have you seen Karane fight? Scary. I just took you for a beginner, that's all. Last time I underestimate you."

"Good," Zelda said.

Link offered his hand.

"Breakfast?" He asked. "I know it's early but I'm starving."

"You're always starving," Zelda said, equipping the bow to her back and taking his hand.

"Oh right," Link replied, entangling his fingers with hers as they walked towards the exit.

Link looked to her quickly as daylight started to breach upon them.

"Wait," he said. "You can't take that out of the Sparring Hall."

"I just did," Zelda said.

"So rebellious, I like it," Link said with a playful smile, his eyes on her until he heard a pot shatter somewhere to his right.

Both of their faces paled when they remembered that Link wasn't to be seen, when they saw the wide eyes of several people, and when panic settled upon them and froze them where they stood.


	34. Address

Link's face was in his hands, Zelda next to him looking with unwavering eyes at the canvas of the tent and Groose pacing in front of them

"Okay," Zelda's father said as he entered, Groose stopping and everyone looking up. "I've got them under control."

"How bad is it?" Asked Zelda, her and Link standing up.

Gaepora shook his head.

"It's not great, but I at least got the crowd a bit calmer. If you are going to say something, the time is now."

Zelda nodded before looking to Link beside her.

"Ready?" She asked.

Link took a deep breath.

"I have to be," he said. "So I am."

From the tent near the square, they could already hear the confused shouts and hollers of their people. They argued amongst themselves, whispering loudly to sort through their uncertainty. The anger and the betrayal rang in Zelda ears as she watched her father exit the tent, back out into the slaughter of their words.

Her expression sank with concern, anticipating the moment to come. Zelda felt Link's hand enrapture hers.

"Thank you again for cooperating," they heard Gaepora say outside the tent, outside the flaps Zelda now faced. One step and the focus of the citizens would shift. "This situation has gotten out of hand and now to explain it is my daughter, Zelda, whom I trust greatly."

Gaepora looked back at the tent, the silence prompting Zelda to step forward into the mess of exclamation, her connected hand with Link's separating finger by finger until none of her was in the tent.

"Where's Link?" She heard someone ask, she didn't know who.

"How is he back?"

Zelda looked to a portion of the crowd.

"What's in the southern temple?"

She looked to another. Any one of them could have asked the questions, the betrayal in their eyes.

"How did he cheat death?"

"Was he lying this whole time?"

"Do you regret marrying him?"

She closed her eyes with an exhale.

"Just give us a straight answer."

"What are you hiding from us?"

"What right do you have?"

"Why is Link so special?"

"Zelda?"

The last one was her father.

It wasn't mixed and melded like the others, it was clear and close, much kinder and much less hostile.

"Six mohn…" she started, opening her eyes to address them, but the words got drowned in their lingering questions and comments.

It was obvious her father noticed, his brow furrowing in impatience with the crowd.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, the voices dying down. "Treat my daughter with respect, please!"

"Thank you," she said timidly before clearing her throat.

"Six months ago, the knight known as Link was sent on a mission," she started. "He took longer than expected and we feared the worst. I'm sure his funeral is very disorienting to the fact that he has now returned—"

"But you never mentioned a mission," a citizen said. "If it's the truth, then why would you lie before? Are you lying now?"

"I assure you, I am not lying now," she said. "There must have been some miscommunication. Link was not brought back to life. The funeral is a protocol for missing knights after a certain time."

"So, you're saying," a citizen started. "That of all the knights, before knights with years more experience might I add, Link was chosen to undergo this mission?"

"Link is more than qualified to—"

"And with his wife expecting at the time, I don't believe for a second that he would have left on a dangerous mission."

"Why was the mission such a secret before?"

"Are you guys hiding something?"

Zelda staggered backwards, the voices were invading again, overtaking any summoned authority.

"Why is the southern temple now forbidden?"

"And don't think we haven't noticed the few people who have access to it. What do you have that we don't? It doesn't seem fair."

"What's in there? As Hylia's people, we deserve to know," another said. "If there is a power that can cheat death, we have a right to it as well."

They weren't listening, they weren't understanding.

Zelda felt as if she were backed into a corner, prey to every single one of their sharp syllables, that rang a truth she couldn't confirm.

"Enough of this!" Groose exclaimed, pulling Link out of the tent with him, shocked whispers at the sight of the knight in green ensuing quickly. "Yes, here he is, my best friend, the one you've accused heinous things of…lying, deceiving Zelda, leaving her without her virtue…and now that he's back I can't stand it anymore because I know how much this man loves that woman and I myself love them too much to hear you berate their good and selfless intentions!"

"Why are you all so insistent on making up a conspiracy that just isn't true?" He continued, Zelda bowed her head, yet her hand had already connected with Link's. "You have all known these two all their life, for nineteen years they have been your friends. How can you not trust them like I do? Why can't you rejoice that Link has finally returned or believe what Zelda is saying? The temple is a holy place, why can't you get that through your thick skulls, listen to Hylia's wishes and leave it well enough alone!"

Groose was panting heavily, finally scanning the crowd and their silence.

His eyes locked with Orielle before he averted his glance.

"Although perhaps with less embellishments," Link said, "what Groose said is true. If I could have returned sooner, believe me, I would have. This is how it happened and I performed my duties because that is what knights do. I missed my wife terribly and now we both mourn our lost child. The same truth, as it happens, remains when referring to the southern temple. There is nothing there for us, only what Hylia wishes to keep untouched."

There was a silence over the crowd, although the expressions on some of their faces showed that they very much wanted to break it and argue more.

But they didn't.

"So…okay!" Groose exclaimed, not quite noticing. "You all understand! Now we can go about our lives as normal."

"Yes, I agree," Gaepora said. "I hope you all adjust smoothly and respectfully. Town meeting adjourned."

Link turned immediately to Zelda when the people started to disperse, going about their own business.

"That wasn't too bad," he said with a smile.

"I suppose," she replied before looking beyond Link. "All thanks to Groose, of course."

The man with red hair had turned his head, his attention previously on Orielle, who didn't realize his pining, yellow eyes.

"They wouldn't have listened at all if not for you," Zelda continued.

Groose shook his head, not wanting to accept the compliment and taking a step forward.

"They should have listened to you," Groose said.

Zelda released a sigh, her next words quieted down.

"They saw straight through me, through our activity around the Sealed Temple…they're smarter than we give them credit for. Hylia praised their curiosity, but…I think we may as well count what just happened as a near miss as far as it dooming us all."

"You think they bought it?" Link asked.

Zelda nodded.

"They trust my father," Zelda said. "And by extension they've been reminded to trust me…it was just a very delicate situation. I didn't like lying."

"Neither did I," Groose said before looking to Link. "And I wager you didn't either. But it's what is needed."

Both Link and Zelda nodded in agreement before Link changed the subject.

"On a lighter side, now that I can go into town, I can pick up your birthday present."

"Link, I already told you it's okay," Zelda insisted, placing a hand on his arm. "My birthday was last week, you don't have to trouble yourself."

Link gave her a peck on the cheek before hopping off the raised platform.

"Too late," he said.


	35. Beneath The Surface

Link opened the door and immediately cracked a smile, spotting Zelda on the couch completely invested in a book.

He closed the door behind him.

"Whatcha reading?" He asked as he approached.

"A book my father recommended," she said with a sigh. Link pecked her forehead before sitting next to her on the couch. "I can see why he likes it, but…I just can't get invested in the characters…I don't know…I suppose if anything finishing it means he'll finally be able to discuss it like I know he wants to."

Link had hidden something behind his back where he sat, biting his lip to contain himself from interrupting.

"In any case," she continued as her eyes lingered on the last few words of a page, turning it quickly to notch the string in between the last chapter and the start of a new one. "I'll finish it someday."

Zelda placed the book down on the table, turning her head to Link's silence.

"What do you have there?" She asked with a smile, sliding forward on the couch, closer to him. Link slid backwards with a teasing smile.

"Your birthday present."

"Link," she replied with a tipped head. "You really didn't have to."

"Do you want it or not?" Link asked.

There was a daring in Zelda's eyes as she smirked.

"Yes."

"Okay," Link said, situating himself in his excitement. "Close your eyes."

"Please don't make me eat something disgusting," Zelda said as she did as he said.

Link laughed.

"I promise I won't."

Link offered the gift to her, Zelda obviously not seeing it.

"Now reach out with your hands," he prompted before adding, "gently."

Zelda did just that, her hands cautious until her fingertips met soft petals.

She smiled immediately.

"Azalea," she said, opening her eyes with a warmth looking into Link's.

Link chuckled, the noise somehow imbuing that same warmth. He took the flower behind her ear, holding its' stem as he tucked blonde strands of hair to secure it left the flower right there. Zelda took his right hand as it retreated.

"Where did you find it this time?" She said. "They aren't exactly the most common flower. The first time was such a fluke, and yet you still find them, without fail."

"I found them the same place I found these," Link said as he unfurled his left hand to reveal seeds in a small pouch.

Zelda didn't even realize he still had a hand behind his back. She brought a hand to her heart as she felt it warm.

"We can try to plant them," Link explained, Zelda's expression melting with gratitude at him, everything about him. "Have our own Azalea bush, right outside our door…and if it doesn't work…"

"We'll try again," Zelda finished with a growing smile, leaning inwards and meeting her lips to Link's.

It wasn't a short exchange, Zelda thinking to withdraw and thank him with actual words when they heard three knocks at the door.

"You two in there?!" They heard Groose exclaim.

"No!" Zelda yelled back with a hopeful tone.

"Okay, that's not helpful," Groose said. "Could you just open the door? Link?"

Link stood up with a sigh, placing the pouch of seeds on the table and walking to open the door.

"Yes?" Link said with a sigh as he opened the door to Groose, the only reply he got being Groose letting himself in.

"When was the last time you saw Parrow?" Groose asked Link, the red-haired knight completely panicked.

It only took Groose a couple seconds to remember. Link hadn't really seen anyone in the last six months.

"Wrong person to ask." He turned to Zelda. "When was the last time you saw Parrow?"

Zelda shrugged.

"A couple days ago," Zelda said in reply. "Why?"

"People are saying he's gone missing," Groose said. "And it's not just him not being at the town meeting last week. Nobody I've talked to has seen him in days. He's not a knight and he never said he was going anywhere."

"Does he have to?" Link asked.

"It's a small town," Zelda relayed quickly. "Did you talk to Orielle?"

Groose didn't reply, his lips reforming but not continuing.

"No…" he said. "I did not."

"Groose, she's his sister," Link started, "if you're really concerned. You might have to—"

"Nope," Groose interrupted. "I have enough information without her. Parrow isn't the only one who's gone missing either."

Zelda stood up, her brow creasing.

"What do you mean?"

"No one has seen Cawlin for days," Groose explained. "I asked Strich but he knew as much as anyone else. Tarvin, Peater, all missing. Toby has been gone a whole week. All of them with no notice whatsoever."

"Tarvin was on distant patrol, wasn't he?" Zelda asked. "He was set to come back yesterday."

"But he didn't," Groose argued with a pointed finger.

Zelda exchanged a fearful expression with Link, the look lingering until Zelda shook her head to break out of it.

"We can't jump to conclusions," Zelda said. "This is concerning but for now it's only a few people. For all we know it's a misunderstanding. Maybe it's none of our business."

"Yes, but," Groose said with a step forward. "What if something happened to them? Something that could endanger all of us. Something that's picking us all off one by one."

"And you say I assume the worst," Link mumbled.

"So someone is what…taking them?" Zelda asked. "But why? If there is a threat and they do have such control, why not kill us all at once? "

"Maybe because there's less opposition this way," Link suggested. "It's a subtle tactic and if there is an actual threat they may be using it…"

He sighed, thinking over his words.

"Maybe we are being paranoid," he continued. "It's probably just a coincidence…maybe they wanted to see the rest of Hyrule."

"And if it's more than that?" Groose asked, his glance going from Link to Zelda.

"Look, my shift starts soon," Groose said. "Just please…keep an eye out. I don't have a good feeling about any of this."

"Understood," Zelda said with a nod.

Groose turned around and left, much more solemnly than he came in, like Zelda assuring him that she had seen any of them was his last hope. He wanted nothing more than to have his worries denied.

"It's only a few people," Link reasoned, turning to Zelda. "Is that so strange?"

"I suppose not, but…" Zelda said. "I don't think we should write it off…or be anything less than cautious."

Link nodded in agreement.

Zelda paced over to the table near the couches, Link following her with his eyes as she grabbed the pouch of seeds and returned to stand before him.

"I know you have made great progress in not assuming the worst," Zelda continued. "So I won't either. We owe it to ourselves to hope for the best. We'll keep an eye on the situation, of course, but…for now I…"

Zelda bowed her head as her words faltered, Link waiting patiently for them to return as he studied her.

Her head tilted back up.

"I just want one moment," she said. "I know I…can't ask for any beyond anymore. Too much hope has been lost for that strength to reclaim itself, but…maybe for now…we can plant the Azaleas. I know it seems silly but—"

"It's not silly," Link insisted.

She tried a small smile and it worked, Link returning it before they walked outside, hands held, arms swinging.

Just next to their doorway was an empty patch of grass and soil, Zelda wondering if Link had been planning this longer than she thought.

They got to their knees, Zelda placing the seeds between where they sat. She picked up a single one, eyeing it.

"So much beauty," she said, "from such an ugly little thing. I suppose appearances can be deceiving."

"Only if you're fooled by it," Link added as he made a hole in the sand. "In this instance, you know its true identity, what it holds inside, its potential to flower and to bloom into something given the right care. You know what it will look like and you know what is necessary to make it so."

"It's the things I don't know," she finished for him, placing a seed in the hole before they both covered it in dirt. "Everything else I could be fooled by that isn't pre-ordained by nature, that loves to trick and to tease, the things I can't predict, that no matter how much care I put in, has a potential I can't control."

"But you do your best anyway," Link countered, them now looking at the part of the ground where a seed laid beneath. "Because maybe, just maybe, there's beauty in that too."


	36. Trust

**Author's Note: And…this story is officially longer than 'One Moment'. Sorry if it feels like I've been droning on but I guess it can't be helped. I'm in too far deep now.**

**I do hope you guys are still with me though. Otherwise, it's just me and my computer spouting nonsense. I guess nothing's changed.**

* * *

"I can take it," Zelda said, bracing herself where she sat. "How many is it?"

Link's silence proclaimed his hesitance.

"Sixteen."

Zelda let out an exhale, her fingers clenching around the edges of the couch.

"And no one knows _anything_?" She asked desperately. Her head had tilted up to look at Link, who was practically buried in all sorts of papers.

Link shook his head.

"Everyone I've talked to says that they don't know where they went," Link said. "Close relatives and friends say they disappeared completely and suddenly, no trace whatsoever."

"Loftwing patrols have revealed nothing," Pipit added. "Even the Sheikah have no idea what has been happening and their gaze on us is stealthy in itself. Whatever threat we've been faced with that is picking us off one by one has outsmarted even them."

Zelda buried her face in her hands.

"Sixteen people in one week," she said. "At this rate, we'll all be gone by the end of the month."

Suddenly, Groose barged through the door, no knock, no warning. Zelda's head popped back up.

"Do you have the list?" Groose asked.

Link shared a distinct glance with Zelda before finally nodding, offering the list with a great deal of pity growing in his chest.

Groose took it forcefully and scanned it with great panic, a great pain in his expression as Link, Zelda, and Pipit watched him.

His eyes suddenly widened, his breath shaky. The paper fell from his hands to the floor and he stormed straight back out of the house.

"Groose," Link said as he stood up.

But Zelda cautioned him with an outstretched hand, Link sitting back down slowly.

"Let him be," she said.

Groose slammed their door shut, entering the calm night he barely noticed, his thoughts frayed with panic.

He closed his eyes and brought his hands to his head. He saw her name, her name in Link's handwriting. Groose couldn't get it out of his head as he breathed heavier and heavier.

Orielle was gone, Groose wasn't there to protect her, to find out what took her.

She was just gone.

"Groose," he heard someone whisper.

Groose sighed, his eyes opening and his arms falling back down to his sides.

"Look, Link," he said as he started to turn around to the door. "If you're here to lecture me about hope, I'm really not in the mo—"

But Link wasn't there.

The door was just as closed as it had been when Groose slammed it. He eyed the oddity.

"Groose," the voice whispered again.

He tried to pinpoint where it was coming from, looking around the dark night as he unsheathed his sword and shield.

"Whoever you are," he said. "I won't be taken without a fight."

"Groose."

The voice was louder and yet softer, Groose's eyes widening at the recognition and turning to it.

Around a corner of the house was a pair of glimmering brown eyes that made Groose release his sword and shield.

He resisted running. Rushing and sprinting and holding and clutching and even then not being fast enough. He only took a couple slow steps forward.

"L, I…" he said a sigh of relief overcoming him. "I was so worried, we…we thought you went missing, all of you."

It was Orielle who rushed forward, emerging from the shadows. She barreled into Groose and hugged him around his neck. Groose returned the embrace and clamped his eyes shut as his head descended into the crook of her neck.

She released, but her hand stayed on the back of his neck.

"I…I don't have time." She bowed her head. "I wish I did but…"

Her head tilted back up, making sure her eyes locked with his.

"I came here to warn you," she said. "I couldn't…couldn't fathom…"

She started to tear up looking at him.

"Couldn't fathom what?" Groose asked, shoving aside the urge to soothe her. "What warning?"

"They…they don't believe you…any of them…what you guys said, they're planning to pillage the temple."

Groose's expression sank completely, his face paling.

"What?"

"The threat…" she said. Her words were quick. "That you think has been kidnapping people, Groose they…they've been leaving voluntarily. They've been conspiring in secret…they want to know what's in the temple. I didn't want you getting hurt…I had to come warn you."

"When?" Groose asked eagerly.

"In three days," she said in reply. "They've been planning it for months but with Link coming back…it was enough to really start it. It convinced my brother…it…"

Her tears started to fall.

"It's tearing Skyloft apart," she said.

Groose released an exhale, looking at nothing in the distance.

"We have to protect it," Groose said. "Right away."

"Why, what's in there?" She asked, searching his profile.

He returned his glance to her.

"I…can't tell you," he said. "You just have to trust me. I know that's a lot to ask, but…"

"Do you trust me?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you trust me," continued Orielle. "Not to go back and tell them your plans, confirm that there _is_ something hidden in the Temple to the South."

Groose placed a hand on her shoulder, making sure their eyes locked.

"Yes, I trust you," he said.

"Then I trust you," she replied with a nod.

"Stay with me," Groose insisted. "You don't have to go back. I can keep you safe."

Orielle shook her head.

"My brother will worry," she explained. "They'll suspect I told you…I just can't."

Groose brought his forehead to hers.

"Even now," she continued. "I shouldn't be here. I've already been gone too long."

"Then why are you still here?" Groose asked. "You voiced your warning. Go."

Orielle nodded, backing away and turning around before she stopped herself.

She rushed back and planted her lips on Groose's, the continuing exchange a surprise for the red-haired knight but not unwelcome. It became desperate, something in their hearts fueling them on.

"I thought we broke up," Groose said as they withdrew.

"We did," Orielle said. "Only there's one problem with that."

Groose waited for her to continue, his eyes searching the hesitance in hers until the brown conflict seemed to resolve itself.

"I love you," she said, her voice almost a whisper.

Groose was completely stunned as she pecked his lips and ran off into the night.

He could have melted right then and there, completely into the grass. His love, his infatuation, his adoration for her could have melted him away from this mortal world completely.

Yet Groose shook his head to coax himself out of it, out of losing his focus.

"Link!" He exclaimed as he rushed to the door. "Zelda!"


	37. Blood

**Author's Note: Thanks for the support! I know I doubt myself a lot, but rest assured my worries will never mean that I stop posting. Tremulous and insecure author's notes are just a byproduct of me having anxiety.**

**!Trigger Warning!: mention and slight description of miscarriage, PTSD**

* * *

"Stop pacing," Link said. "You're making me nervous."

Groose did as he said, looking straight at where Link sat against the wall.

"I'm pacing _because_ I'm nervous," Groose said, keeping his arms crossed. "We don't know where they are coming from and with only the five of us to guard the whole area it's near impossible."

"Pipit has an eye on it right now," Link said. "If he saw something, he would land and tell us."

"Unless they shot him down," Groose mumbled.

"Look, Groose," Link continued. "It's another three days before the attack, so you don't have to worry about it now. The Sheikah have already promised their support without us even asking. That's at least twenty to cover the perimeter. Everything will be fine."

Link looked at Zelda, her sleeping head drooped on his shoulder and her frame curled up at his side.

Groose released a sigh, his arms returning to his sides.

"You're worried about Orielle," Link started, shifting his glance up to Groose. "Aren't you?"

"So?" Groose retorted. "What's it to you?"

Link shrugged his shoulder, or at least as much as he could without waking Zelda up.

"Well, I was just thinking about the situation," Link started teasingly. "The way you two met under the cover of darkness, a tragic goodbye…sounds pretty _melodramatic_ to me."

Groose knew exactly what Link was referring to.

"Haha, very funny," Groose said, not amused. "This isn't the time for jokes."

"Sometimes it's all we have," Link said. "Adds some levity."

Groose crossed his arms and looked up to the sky.

"We're looking at civil war, Link," Groose argued. "This is going to be different from anything we've ever faced. You should be worried…for our people, for Zelda. Either you don't care or you're hiding it _very_ well. I myself am a complete wreck thinking of Orielle hurt somehow, what this war will do to all of us, how it could have been avoided if we were just a _bit_ more careful."

"I've learned to control my fear," Link said. "Not to be so susceptible to it. I don't know whether it's the wisdom or courage talking but…I have a feeling it's neither, that somewhere along the line I did something very human and learned from my mistakes of worrying too much all the time. I suppose that's the battle in front of all of us, not just a civil war but…a war within ourselves of what we choose. I hope we all make the right choice, that they devalue fear and greed and recognize that they have fallen to it, sacrificed their better judgement, their love, their sense of community. I hope even more that the fear and greed within me will be kept dormant. I hope what I think is right is truly so."

Groose shook his head as he bowed it, hands on his hips.

"Hylia had to teach us this lesson the hard way, didn't she?" He asked.

"No," Link said, Groose's head perking back up. "She knew this was coming, the inevitability in it. She loved us for the struggle, the morality we were destined to grapple with but I think she underestimated the danger…the blood that would be spilled."

Link looked down at Zelda, cooing with calm breaths.

"She's now learning like we are," Link continued. "The price of mortality…how much it impassions us, for better or worse."

Groose nodded in agreement.

"I'd rather avoid the latter," he said as he walked off. Groose whistled for his Loftwing and mounted it to help Pipit with his patrol. He couldn't just stand around and do nothing.

"Me too," Link said as he watched Groose fly off into the night sky, speckled with stars that, if Zelda were awake, she would surely go on and on about.

Zelda shifted in her sleep, Link's gaze immediately changing to her, studying the way her face was contorted.

Something was upsetting her, Link unsure for how long as he clutched her shoulder tighter, his gaze unrelentingly on her.

"No," she said in her sleep. "Not now…I don't want to…please…"

"No!" She said, awakening with a startle and sitting straight up.

"Zel," Link said, grasping both her shoulders. Yet her glance was beyond him, her face, her shoulders, her entire body shuddering and shaking with fear.

"Zel!" He yelled into her face, yet she showed no reaction, only looking down for her eyes to widen.

She hurried quickly away from Link's grasp, gasping and panting at whatever she saw. She let out a frantic scream as she shook more, looking at her hands. Zelda rubbed one against the other as if it were covered in something.

But nothing was there.

Link's heart broke with concern, cautiously walking forward on his knees.

"Zel," he tried calmly, his arms out. "Look at me. It's me, it's Link, you can trust me."

"It's everywhere!" She sobbed, trying to wipe her hands of something while touching the ground around her in panic. "I can't get rid of it! It's hot…and sticky…the smell sickens me…I can't breathe. So…so much blood…I can't stop it!"

Her hand clamped around blades of grass as tears fell upon them, her head bowed.

"Zel," Link said. He was right in front of her now. "Listen to the sound of my voice. Close your eyes and focus only on my words."

She did so, yet still breathing fast and heavy, as if grasping for air with her lungs.

"Good," he said, "that's very good. Now think of the wind with me, not frantic, not rushed, not fast but calm, it drifts and it floats. It's a gentle breeze and it fills your lungs…it even extends beyond them."

Her breathing was slowing, Link tearing up. He'd never been on this side of the situation before. Link wondered if this is what it felt like for her to calm him all that time ago.

"There's a feather," he said. "A feather shed from a Loftwing, it drifts and falls with the wind, but slowly. Up…and down…"

"Up…"

"And down…"

"Good, just like that," he continued. "Up…and down…"

Zelda's fists unclenched from the blades of grass, relaxing just a bit.

Link brought a soft hand to her cheek, Zelda flinching at first before she recognized his touch. He caressed her cheek before forming his hand to cup it, tilting her head back up. Her slow breathing had continued.

"Now open your eyes," Link said, Zelda's eyes drifting open slowly to meet Link's. Kind, caring, loving, something she dove right into.

She hugged him around his neck, the rest of her tears falling into his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" He asked with a slight movement of his head, almost whispering into her ear. His arms wrapped around her as she kept her silence, breaths hiccuping and shoulders shaking.

When Zelda released, her face was wet with tears, hands moving to his shoulders. She looked around herself before finding his eyes again and nodding.

"You…don't have to talk about it," Link said.

Zelda's shaky hand found the back of his head, pulling his forehead to hers.

"No," she said with a shake of her head. "I want to…I need to…"

"Zel, is…" he started to ask. "Is this about…?"

She nodded, Link taking his own deep breath.

"I'm all ears," he said with a soft sadness, studying her with a concern he wagered wouldn't stop. He kissed her cheek and took both her hands.

"It's a blur, really," she started shakily, sniffling her nose. "You already know the particulars, what the letter said. Luckily, I was over at Karane's when I started to feel pain, or I likely would have never gotten help. The pain was so bad, so sudden…if I were alone…I don't think I would have made it. Even at the time I didn't think so either. My vision clouded…I couldn't hear anything. The pain was jarring. I knew something was wrong."

Zelda sighed.

"The details are gory," Zelda said. "I only really know what I've been told and even then…it makes me nauseous just thinking about it. I remember the blood…so much blood. I remember being carried to their bed, worried that my blood would stain their house until there was no point in worrying. I remember Groose…leaning on the far wall on the verge of tears. I remember that being my indicator that…that things were getting worse. I remember I heard my father's voice…somewhere…but it all felt so disjointed."

"I remember Karane holding my hand through the brunt of it," she continued. "And I remember calling your name…I thought you would be able to hear me, at least, my delirium convinced me so. I thought I was louder than I actually was when I said your name. And my screams and cries in the effort and the pain…I felt them in my throat with a great soreness, but…I didn't hear them."

"What I did hear, and what I remember the most clearly," she continued, but her voice had become shaky again, breaking into pieces. Link wiped away a tear before leading them to sit against the wall. He wanted to hold her and she voiced no objection, them curling into each others arms.

"There was a silence," she said. "I had felt an emptiness, I…knew, deep down, that it was gone, but…it was the silence that broke me. No baby cried, no one rejoiced…I could feel the stillness in the room. I hoped that I was kidding myself…that the emptiness I felt was manufactured by fear, that I had truly lost all sensation in my ears, but Greba and Orielle were whispering as quietly as they could, their back turned to me. I wasn't dumb, at least not in that moment. I knew what had happened. Groose, Pipit, Karane, they all embraced me where I lay, holding me tight as my tears fell fast, my head to heavy to lift up as I lay there in a grief I never expected because…"

With that last word, her voice was small and thin.

"I wanted you," she finished before she buried her face in his chest.

Link was crying too as he held her, rocking her gently back and forth.

"I didn't do enough to nurture it, not…not enough," Zelda blubbered, her voice muffled. "It was an ugly, nasty thing, the experience…it was supposed to be beautiful. There was…so much blood on my hands."

Link kissed the top of her head, knowing any words would come out indistinguishable.

"And," she tried, "I…"

She moved her hand from Link's lower back to curve around his shoulder.

"I made the same mistake with…with my people."

Her tears surged with those words, her breaths, her shoulders hiccuping. Link was crying too, but he just let them fall where they would, them just holding each other.

No more words passed their lips that night because they both figured that none would. In his head, Link apologized, again and again for her sorrow, for her pain, never quite having the composure to voice it.

And Zelda thanked Farore, thanked Din, thanked Nayru that he was finally here.


	38. Dawn

The sun ascended on a broken kingdom, fractured, splintered.

Not that it was a kingdom to begin with, that they had the time for even that unity. The community and township they had in Skyloft was how things had always been, that peace that had accustomed to continue with tradition when moving to the Surface. Nothing had been manufactured, nothing truly built but for the houses, the physical things, the superficial things that convinced the people of Skyloft that they were better off on the Surface.

But old habits, when backed by sense, live longer, deeper than what can be seen.

Hyrule and the town they settled in was to be no different from Skyloft, but people were so set in their ways that any slight difference struck them. The secrets they were ill-informed of sparked their curiosity, lies circulating among people once trusted.

The Wing Ceremonies and Loftwing Inductions no longer took place, the statue of the Goddess Hylia going from an open place of worship to a place to be guarded, secreted as if it never was open to all. The new Surface was a strange place, yet they adjusted, burying their doubts until they couldn't help but question them again.

The theory that a select few of the residents were hoarding power to themselves that Hylia gave to all was one few believed, at least at first. Pipit and Karane had earned their knighthood like all the others. Even Groose and Link were believed to have earned their celebrity by waging battles of valor on the Surface, and Zelda was already the headmasters daughter, the young woman who played the role of the goddess, the subject of many rumors concerning her relationship with Link until it was confirmed.

To think that the five of them had access to some mysterious power was lunacy, and became even more so as time passed.

Very few insisted past being constantly being denied, past constantly seeing Zelda's misfortune, past her husband's supposed death, past losing her baby.

Most regarded the theory as mere greed for its' affirmation, that wanting unimaginable power created the theory that it exists, and thus the evidence and its' logic.

That was until, of course, Link came back from the dead.

Or at least that's how it looked to them.

The town was split in three.

A sizable amount went in hiding to discuss the matter, eventually coming to the resolve that they needed to find out for themselves, that they would disparage the Sealed Temple, the statue of the Goddess Hylia, every inch of it until they found the secrets they felt were kept from them for selfish reasons.

The rest of the townspeople remained unaware, going about their business, their daily lives. They knew not of the civil war happening in three days time, one side to defend the Triforce and one side determined to discover it. They were told to remain calm by Gaepora, who had assumed a role of leadership along with his daughter, and so they did. They trusted him, they trusted Zelda, and they trusted their judgement. The few knights among them were told not to intervene.

The third group was composed of the knights they trusted, the ones that didn't curse their obligation and bend to their curiosity, swearing to attack the temple. Link, Groose, Karane, Pipit, and Zelda knew of the Triforce, and so did the Sheikah who resided in caves secret to the rest of the Hylians. They were Hylia's defense against her people, and they were willing to die protecting the Hylians from the greed that motivated them, that threatened to only grow if the defense failed.

Thus, the perimeter of the statue and the temple were dotted with trained Sheikah warriors, ready and waiting to defend the Triforce again, the Sacred Realm it slept in, and the Master Sword that stood as a gateway.

The North entrance of the temple was where the Hylians in defense hastily made camp, where their main center of operations would be until the point of attack was determined, the front line they would rush to.

Oliver, Karane and Pipit's child, was safely in the care of Pipit's mom, allowing for Karane and Pipit to patrol from their Loftwings in alternate shifts with Groose. Link and Zelda were to maintain the camp and not one of all of them did not fear the coming war.

And so the sun ascended as Groose and Pipit landed their Loftwings, having seen Karane salute to them in the sky. Groose obviously didn't understand the meaning or purpose of shifts, having done his own, gotten impatient when Pipit's started and just joined him.

His exhaustion could be heard in his sigh as his feet met the ground.

"Go to sleep," Pipit said, his voice was low, the fatigue in it apparent.

"What a fun concept," Groose grumbled, sitting down and burying his face in his hands.

"They seem to have no problem with it," Pipit said, spotting Link and Zelda, curled up against the other with their backs against the wall.

"Who?" Groose asked.

"Link and Zelda," Pipit said. "Who else?"

Groose was honestly too tired to bother voicing his disappointment in them not being vigilant and actually watching the camp all throughout the night. He had trouble just keeping his eyes open and decided to focus on letting them close.

Pipit, however, crossed his arms where he stood before the sleeping couple.

"Hey!" He commanded.

They didn't budge, Pipit looking up and inwardly asking Hylia to give him the patience.

"Wake up!" He yelled louder, Zelda's eyes drifting open before she squinted at the dawning sunlight.

"Link," she croaked, lifting herself from his hold. "We fell asleep."

"Mm," he mumbled.

"Sorry, Pipit," Zelda said. "It was a long night for all of us."

Suddenly, Groose slumped down to the ground in the distance, laying in a position that looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Groose and I need rest," Pipit replied. "Just…you two don't be asleep at the same time again."

"We won't," Zelda said as Pipit walked off. Zelda could tell by his bluntness how tired he was.

Link rubbed his eyes, his forehead creasing as he wrested his mind to be alert and awake. Zelda leaned her head against the wall in adoration, a smile adorning her features.

"Hey, sleepyhead," she said, watching his blue eyes open to hers with a slight weight in his eyelids.

"Right back at you," he said in reply.

"Thanks for last night, by the way," Zelda said. "Everything you did…even just you being such a good listener."

Link nodded before bringing his weight off the wall.

"You're welcome," he said. "But…I didn't get the chance to remind you…what happened then wasn't your fault. It had nothing to do with that first month. I talked to Greba the other day and I have to agree with her about that, and about how strong you were. You did the best you could and I know that if you could have carried our baby to term, you would have."

Link took her hand.

"The same goes for this town," Link continued. "You tried your best, but it was out of your control…their greed was out of your control. You can't blame yourself for that."

Zelda nodded.

"I know," she said. "It's just easier than the truth…than acknowledging that I had no power, over both situations."

Zelda released a sigh.

"I'm starting to accept that I did everything I could when it came to the baby," she said, "and that I can't hate myself for that. In fact, I really am trying not to. I know that after the first month of my pregnancy, I did every little thing right, but…I didn't with my people. There's more to them than their greed, they're just misguided by it. I could have done more to stall them but now that they are coming…I want to try and fix it…redeem them…remind them out of their hate."

Link smiled, but Zelda didn't see it.

"I know what you're thinking," she continued. "Using words to convince them, how that's no different from using words to enlist the Sheikah all those years ago. But it has to be different. The Sheikah were changed because of me, to people who thought on their own to people who unequivocally were loyal to me. That is no different from how I want to change our people, but this time I would be doing it to save their lives, not risk them. Link, I convince enough people and there would be no danger, there would be no lives lost, I could control their greed. Maybe there are some systemic issues to sort out later, but our society would be built on words, on peaceful negotiations and not bloodshed. I have to try. I can deal with the consequences of taking advantage of my influence later. For all I know, our society could move away from religion and traditions of old, let people be free in how they think and who leads them. But for now I have to keep them away from the Triforce, curb their greed until it's no longer an issue."

"You say all those things as if I would disagree," Link said with a continuing smile.

"What's a husband for if not a free test audience?" Zelda teased.

"Other things," he said, continuing to play along.

"Like?" She prompted playfully.

"The fun things," he said with a smirk.

"Oh, okay," Zelda said before he kissed him on the lips, and with her next breath, "a hot test audience then."

Their lips met and changed and deepened as they pleased.

"You're getting distracted," Link said in between, talking against her lips. "Groose would scold us for losing our heads in a time of war."

"War?" She retorted, backing away from the exchange, Link's neck still craned in expectation.

"Yeah," Link said, moving his head to sit straight atop his shoulders.

"Am I the only person who thinks this is easily negotiable?" She asked. "It seems all of you are ready to resort to violence at the first opportunity."

"I wouldn't say that," Link said with shakes of head.

"Well, if Groose thinks war is inevitable than I'll be sure to prove him wrong."

"He's just worried," Link countered. "He wants to be prepared."

"That's great," Zelda said, looking over at a sleeping Groose. "I just don't think he'll have to be."


	39. Preparations

"We are in our last few hours of peace," Indigo said, standing before the five individuals, backs straight, hands behind their back. "The stroke of midnight signals a new day and, as you all well know, a battle for the protection and posterity of this temple. And, by extension, the Sacred Realm that is parallel to it. I do not need to relay to you the utmost importance of the interaction that is approaching, some of you knowing better than even I of that importance."

They were all in their normal knight garb, weapons equipped, sturdy chainmail and tunics of assorted colors ready to wage battle. Their hats were secured and, in their unity, had no hilarity.

It was like a rainbow, all five of them in the colors at which they were first ushered in knighthood. Groose in his dark blue at the beginning of the line towered over his comrades, Pipit and Karane dressed in yellow and a pastel green respectively. Link in his green tunic was quite the normal sight, only having sacrificed the chainmail in the past couple years, or the tunic for just the undershirt when it got especially warm.

Next to him, however, at the very end of the line, was Zelda, who had asked Karane for an old tunic and pants and found that not being in a dress was quite liberating. It was the same faded green, with the same flattened hat atop her head.

They represented what Skyloft used to be, not its' traditions, every last one in every detail, but its' unity.

"So, on the eve of such a conflict," Indigo continued. "The Sheikah and I offer our full support unconditionally. I assure you no guilt should be harbored for our involvement. We choose your side freely."

"Thank you," Zelda said with a nod.

"As you are aware," Indigo continued. "We have Sheikah surrounding the perimeter, but the most likely point of attack is through the entrance to the Faron Woods, which is where we are now. At the time in which that is confirmed to be the case, we will come to your aid."

"And if there are multiple points of attack," Groose said. "I will be up in the skies to see it and inform you all as soon as possible. Keep your eyes and ears open at all times. Vigilance is of the utmost importance."

"It's also important to keep in mind their main object," Zelda added. "I sincerely believe that they will only fight us if they have to. If I can't negotiate us out of this, their main focus will still be on the temple."

"When it comes down to it," Pipit started to asked. "Isn't that what we have to prioritize? Over their lives?"

Zelda paused, a sadness melting her eyes.

"Yes," she said. "If they cannot respond to my words and only wish to resolve this conflict with violence, then…then we have no choice but to prevail…for their sake."

Indigo could tell none of them felt good about this, their glances hesitant and guarded.

Yet they were changed, twinging with surprise when Indigo knelt before them, bowing her head.

Link had never really gotten used to it, but Groose, Karane, and Pipit especially met it with uncertainty. The three automatically looked to Link and Zelda before they realized that Indigo was bowing to all of them.

"Your sacrifices for Hylia and her wishes are great and honorable," she said, her voice slightly muffled, yet still projected and clear. "On behalf of her chosen guardians, I thank you all. I wish to see you all as safe as the Sealed Temple by the end of this."

"To your people," Zelda said. "We wish the same."

Indigo stood up and nodded before rejoining the Sheikah in their preparations.

The five individuals remained standing in silence, the only noise a shifting and whistling wind.

"It's inevitable now," Karane said. "Isn't it?"

Zelda tried not to let it get to her how little faith the rest of them had in their people, how quickly they accepted they may have to fight them.

She looked to Link for any sort of assurance, but his head was bowed, Zelda could tell his worry.

"Yeah," Pipit replied before branching off from the line to the assortment of weapons they had near the camp, Karane following suit.

Link looked up to watch them leave, studying their pacing before he turned to Zelda and took her hand.

"Get a good bow," he said, Zelda meeting his eyes immediately.

Her heart sank.

"Link…"

"Please," he insisted, tightening his grip on her hand. "Just in case."

Zelda nodded and departed, her hand letting go of his. He watched her depart with a great sadness and pity. Her words were strong, but were they enough to stop a coming war? Could any words ever be enough? Was it foolish to think so? To endanger her for her hope?

"Link," he heard Groose prompt, pulling his focus to the red-haired knight in blue. "I have a favor to ask."

"Anything," Link said in reply, taking a step forward.

"When I'm in the sky, can…" he started, a great pain and fear in his eyes. "Can you make sure Orielle doesn't get hurt? I don't know what side she'll be fighting on, but…I don't care…I need her safe."

"Groose," Link said with shakes of his head. "I'll try my best, but—"

"No," Groose interrupted, tearing up, "don't…that's…all I need to hear. I have enough of the rest on my own."

"Groose, I'm so sorry," Link said.

"All of this isn't your fault," Groose said, with a sniffle of his nose. "Put this all on you and I'll give you a black eye to rival the others."

Link nodded, it releasing into a chuckle.

"Is there anything you want me to tell her?" Link asked. "I hear communication does wonders."

"A very wise statement," Groose said with a small smile before it faded.

"I never told her I loved her," he said with a great deal of sadness, Link listening intently. "I think no other words would do than for her to hear them from me."

"So…" Groose continued. "I think just make sure she can…in the end."

Link nodded again.

"Understood."

Groose started to turn away.

"Hey, umm…" Link started, Groose turning back. "Before you go…I've been meaning to thank you…for your wisdom. You said someday I would and I didn't believe you…but nothing made your point clearer than making amends with Zelda."

Groose's eyebrows twitched upwards in surprise.

"You're welcome," he said with a friendly smile before whistling for his Loftwing and mounting it, flying off into the night sky.


	40. Confrontation

Zelda looked up at the starry night sky, focusing on the beauty of each individual star, the way they sprawled across the sky in their magnificence, the way their light only seemed to serve the pale moon.

There was no chaos in the sky above her and it was a beauty that was familiar. If she closed her eyes, she could very well imagine herself flying in those skies without a care in the world, the way the breeze shifted her bangs, her hair. All those times when she flew to her home of Skyloft, not knowing of the Surface below or the fragility of peace.

She felt Link take her hand without word passing his lips, the sensation rooting her back to the Surface. Her blurry focus on the stars realigned with a blink of her eyes, the next changing her glance to the bushes and trees right before them. She took a deep breath.

The skies were predictable, a nature that could be studied and still wouldn't change, the positions of the stars that submit to some grand design. Even the way the bushes and trees grow had such predictability. They flourish into stagnancy until interrupted by a soft breeze, by drops of rain, by heaps of snow, by other nature that disproves its perfection.

"Should I have seen this coming?" Zelda asked. "Predicted this somehow?"

Link took a pause.

"Human nature is a term garnered quite foolishly," Link said. "There is nothing natural about the chaos they ensue."

Zelda looked at him in confusion.

"I started reading that book," Link said, clarifying. "The one your father gave you to read. Although I'd love to take credit for pulling something like that out of nowhere, I won't."

Zelda studied him for a lingering second before she studied his words instead.

"And thus such chaos can change," Zelda continued, recalling the passage and returning her head to a forward gaze. "Upon every repeat incidence, there is a chance for actions to indeed fall on something not completely corrupt, perhaps even good. Unlike nature, we yield varying results. It is because of our chaos that we have the opportunity at becoming something better with each step. Nature has not yet deemed us stagnant in our ways, predictable like the sun on a new day."

Link furrowed his brow as he watched people start to emerge from the greenery, displacing leaves as they walked into their sights.

"We are indeed unnatural," Zelda finished. She saw them too. "And that is our saving grace, that we aren't inherently fixed upon darkness and unmovable from that. Without our chaos, there would be no hope."

They were all armed, with a set determination in their eyes Link had never seen. He had grown up with these people, after all, all of them small portions of the parents he had lost. They had shaped him, each of them, in ways he couldn't define.

He watched as Zelda left his side, Karane and Pipit watching as well as she stepped forward with a bravery Link was proud of. Although the weapons of those who opposed them had already been withdrawn, her bow stayed secure, her quiver and the arrows in them remaining still.

"We hoped you wouldn't be here," said Parrow, who stood in the front row of the crowd.

"So did we," Zelda said in reply.

"I suppose this only confirms our suspicions." Parrow said, assuming the role of speaking for the group. "You're protecting something for yourselves, keeping it from us for your own benefit. Aren't you?"

"We're protecting it from you for _your_ benefit," Zelda said. "What is beyond those doors is beyond mortals, beyond our desires, and beyond what Hylia wanted for her people. Fight us, go through those doors, and you'll be tarnishing her very name."

Link finally caught the glance he was searching for, the pair of brown eyes that was already looking at him, asking him a silent question. He nodded as subtle as he could to Orielle, who breathed a sigh of relief.

"Believe me when I say that there is no power we are keeping from you that will benefit you," Zelda said. "We don't want to cause you harm. You _all_ are our friends."

Zelda offered her hand.

"Trust us," she continued. "And no blood has to be shed. We can talk this out like adults. All you have to do is let this temple rest and no one will get hurt."

"More lies and deceit," Parrow said, with a growing spite in his voice. "That's all words are. I think we've heard enough. I think it's time to see for ourselves what Hylia left for her people. With all due respect, the headmaster's daughter has no right to spout her wishes. Step aside, and let us see for ourselves."

"You're right," Zelda said. "As the daughter of the headmaster, I have no right to deny you entrance. But…"

Zelda paused, taking a deep breath.

"…as the incarnate of the Goddess Hylia, I must."

Link was surprised that she let that slip, but tried to hide it. Much of the crowd, in contrast, were in complete shock, if not engaging in slight murmurs. Orielle in particular had wide eyes before her head bowed with a sharp exhale.

"You're joking," Parrow said, with a chuckle of disbelief, "that's not possible."

It was evident she was believed, at least by some, people from the crowd straggling to switch sides. The group of attackers had diminished by about a third, Link breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Commander Eagus and Fledge among those who joined his side.

"There _is_ something in the temple," Parrow insisted. "It's why the Knight Academy has regular rotations of it, why only five knights are allowed to partake in that rotation and three of them were involved in the mysterious Surface debacle two years ago. It's why Link miraculously came back from the dead and it's why you protect it now. We believe you found something, something that benefits you and you only. I don't care who she is, if she stands before me or not. If Hylia denies us access, it means Hylia does not want the best for us, so good riddance to her name."

Link unsheathed his sword and shield, stepping forward and assuming a battle stance with a glare. He heard the Skyloftians behind him do the same, instilled with the determination he saw mirrored in the attackers.

Zelda looked behind her quickly to find herself in the middle of two opposing sides, weapons drawn and eyes ready to fight.

"Please," she pleaded to the attackers. "If you won't believe me or listen to me, at least remember _yourselves_ , remember who we all used to be. Remember Skyloft, our unity, remember how peaceful we all were, remember the relationships we used to have with the people next to us, the people we are now facing in hatred."

Orielle stepped forward out of the crowd, gave a passing glance to her brother, and stood next to Zelda. Her brother lowered his sword.

"Do you really want to fight them?" Zelda asked.

She could see his hesitation, the hesitation in all of them. Three more changed sides, Link recognizing Luv, Bertie, and Driss, leaving about a dozen, maybe more on the opposing side. He would actually count if his instincts weren't inwardly preparing for attack from any one of them.

"No," Parrow finally said. "We…don't want to fight any of you. But if you won't let us past without a fight, then we have to. It's time your secrets got out, all of them."

Parrow struck his sword forward, a vertical slash towards his former goddess. Yet, in midair it was stopped by another sword, them clashing with a clang. Zelda looked to Orielle in surprise, her brother's expression seeping with betrayal and confusion.

"I sincerely hope you don't regret this, Brother," Orielle said, holding Parrow's sword where it was with a strength that made her smirk.

* * *

"Is that it?" Cawlin whispered, crouching down as his hand grazed the bark of the tree next to him.

"Yep," Tarvin said, crouching next to him. "The Sealed Temple, named quite appropriately, if you ask me."

Crouched behind them were two others. Jakamar, who feared for his family and was persuaded to join to protect them. And Rupin, who was their supplier, squirming nervously with hesitance, worried only that his involvement would lose him business. He hoped only to get this done, get paid, and move on.

Toby, the final of the five, came up behind them, walking with purpose and determination, a confidence befitting the knight he was, older, with more years experience than Link, Groose, and Pipit combined.

Or, at least, so he thought.

"There they are," he said looking at the Sheikah who stood guard, and another a distance away. "We just have to—"

Suddenly, the Sheikah responded to something, their heads spinning around to something very specific. Toby crouched and kept his silence.

Relief washed over them as the Sheikah ran to something else, obviously hearing something they didn't.

"What was that?" Tarvin asked. "I thought were supposed to take them out."

"Our friends must be facing more opposition than we thought," Toby remarked. "I say we take advantage of the opportunity."

Tarvin and Cawlin started to walk forward eagerly as Toby looked up to night sky, peering at a passing shadow.

"Wait," he cautioned, Tarvin and Cawlin freezing, "not yet. We have eyes."

The rest of the four looked up as well. They couldn't see exactly who, but there was surely the shadow of a Loftwing, flitting across the stars.

"Cawlin," Toby prompted.

"Yes, sir," Cawlin said with a nod before he grabbed the bow strapped to his back and pulled back the string alongside the arrow. Cawlin aimed it towards the sky, narrowing his eyes to aim true.

"Wait, that…" he started, hesitating, the arrow still aimed upwards, "that's Groose."

"It doesn't matter," Toby commanded. "He chose his side."

Something gripped Cawlin's chest as he continued to hesitate, something that pulled and tugged and burned.

"I…I can't do it," Cawlin said, lowering the bow. "He's my friend. You all promised me no one would get hurt, that we were just looking in the temple."

"For goodness sake," Toby said as he forcefully took the bow and arrow from Cawlin and aimed at Groose's Loftwing. Guilt washed over Cawlin, suffocating him. He considered doing something, stopping Toby before his muscles locked, as if forcing him to conform. He knew he should have done something, and told himself to as he sat there, shaking his head.

But this was so much easier.

Toby released the arrow, Cawlin watching with great concern as the arrow flew.

It shot straight into something in the skies, Cawlin bringing both hands to his mouth when he saw it hit a blue Loftwing, and saw its rider fall limp to the Surface.


	41. Fallen

"There are two sides fighting, Sister," Parrow said, pushing forward with his sword. He gestured his head towards the temple. "Tell them to let us in the temple and no one will get hurt."

"I can't do that," Orielle said.

"Why not?" Asked Parrow.

"Because I have a promise to make," she said as he kicked him square in the chest, Parrow stumbling back.

The battle had already erupted around them, Link, Zelda, Pipit, Karane, and the other Skyloftians frankly outnumbered as they tried to keep the opposition at bay. Attempting to defy the odds, they fought against the advances of the attackers.

The first straggler made their way through, hurrying to the temple entrance. Zelda aimed an arrow at their leg, to stop but not kill them. At even this she hesitated, relieved when the Hylian seemed to fall on his own, knocked out by some shadow.

As if on queue, it was no shadow but a Sheikah who dropped in to the defense of the temple. Parrow backed away in surprise as the whole lot of them started fighting against his side. They swooped in like shadows and fought like a creeping chill. Their red eyes burned with a hued mystery and they were cloaked in a determined silence that resulted in a twinge of fear prickling in Parrow's heart.

"You're outnumbered," Orielle said with a slight smile.

"That won't stop us," Parrow said, reclaiming his own determination and advancing again.

Orielle backed away slightly as she met each one of his strikes with her own sword.

"Link!" She called out over her shoulder.

"A little busy!" He called back. Locked in a sword fight with a former Skyloftian knight, he barely afforded a glance over.

"Where's Groose?!" She asked without looking, holding back her brother's sword.

Orielle pushed the blade forward, proving herself stronger before she swiveled it out of his hands completely. Her brother now disarmed, Orielle clocked Parrow square in the face with the hilt of her sword.

She looked to Link and sheathed her sword as her brother fell to the floor, unconscious. Link signaled with his head upwards once she caught his glance, Orielle prompted to look up to the night sky.

She spotted Groose's blue Loftwing quickly, and with the knowledge that he was safe, breathed a sigh a relief. Orielle watched with a smile as she resigned herself to continue defending the temple, about to look away.

But her heart stopped completely as she watched the Loftwing's calm glide instantly halt, the Loftwing obviously hurt by something before Groose fell from it. Orielle screamed as both hands went to her mouth.

Link, who now hung his blade at the knight's neck, had apparently seen it too, his blue eyes wide.

"Go!" He commanded, attempting to stifle his panic and worry for his friend. "Now!"

Orielle was breathing heavily and fighting back tears. She nodded quickly, sprinting in the direction of where Groose landed.

Link suppressed his panic and looked down his blade with a furrowed brow.

"I've never killed a Hylian, Horg," Link said. "I know you haven't either. But one of us just might have, just now. We're knights of Skyloft, we're better than this. We weren't trained to kill each other."

"How would you know?" Horg asked rhetorically. "You earned your title on nothing but nepotism."

Link's glare remained, blue and determined to look nowhere else.

"If you were me," Link said. "Right here, right now, with your sword at my neck…would you kill me?"

"That's the thing," Horg replied. "If I were you, I wouldn't keep secrets, nor endanger others for my own selfishness. If I were you, I wouldn't be holding a sword at all."

Link's glance drifted from the green eyes of his former comrade to the sharp blade he held at his neck, Link's eyes widening with a soft gasp to see that he had drawn blood.

He had accidentally pressed too hard.

Horg let out a slight sigh of relief when Link loosened the sharp press. Link made sure the sword was only hanging above Horg's shoulder as his chest constricted with guilt.

Link's blue eyes portended an apology, inhaling to voice it before he was suddenly blown back by a massive force.

He lost his grip on everything, his sword, his shield, his awareness, everything as he felt his back hurled against a near wall of rock, soon tumbling to the ground. His ears rung and his heartbeat pulsed inside his head. Link couldn't place anything, trying to as he managed himself to his hands and knees.

With blurry vision he tried to figure out what had just occurred, that damn buzzing and ringing in his ears not helping at all. He felt the grass at his fingertips, they way they sifted through as he tried to crawl.

But it wasn't long until he felt his muscles collapse completely.

* * *

"Groose!" Orielle exclaimed as she ran through the trees, regretting not learning more about the layout of the woods. The forest was dark in this long night and even the moonlight and the stars offered little guidance.

"Groose!" She exclaimed again, not caring that a low-hanging branch had cut her face, that she almost ran into another tree, that the brush below her threatened to trip her with every step.

She suddenly heard a large boom behind her, looking quickly with a gasp to see curling smoke rising above the trees of the forest. Orielle studied the smoke, the way it rose and billowed. She peered closer at its origin, looking for the grey of the Sealed Temple with no luck.

Figuring she likely just couldn't see it through the trees, she pushed away her worry for her friends, telling herself they were okay and that they couldn't be dumb enough to destroy themselves.

She continued to run in the direction she saw Groose fall, hoping it was the right one and that she hadn't truly lost her way. Every spare second could be a matter of life or death, and every breath she took could have been taken at the very instance Groose breathed his last. The very thought of losing him fueled her on to run faster and faster.

"Groose!" She yelled, her worry increasing. Another twig snapped under her feet. Another small bird flitted away at her presence. Another insect hummed its summer tune, but it was a song she whizzed past. "Groose!"

Her pacing slowed as she started to lose hope, the water in her eyes forming into tears.

Orielle circled around herself as she looked from one corner of the forest to another, every glance offering her only deeper and darker pathways, entrances arched by narrow openings between trees. She was lost, terribly, undeniably lost in the woods and at her wits' end.

"Orielle?" A distant voice asked. "Is that you?"

Her head shot to where the voice came from, Orielle looking to her left to see nothing much different.

"Groose?" She inquired as she followed the voice with no hesitation, taking no care to the fact that the voice was slightly of higher pitch than Groose's. Her arms parted leaves and branches and she emerged herself from thick greenery unto a forest clearing.

Her inhale was shaky before she ran, barely acknowledging Cawlin as she put a hand to Groose's cheek and sat on her heels. Her brown-haired braid fell in front of her shoulder.

"Groose," she said desperately, gently petting the left side of his face. "Groose, it's me. Wake up."

There was no response, Orielle tearing up with worry.

"Was he like this when you found him?" Orielle asked quickly, looking to Cawlin. "Did…did he fall like this?"

Cawlin nodded. He was tearing up too.

Orielle quickly handled his wrist, clutching it and waiting for a pulse.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"He's alive," Orielle said. "But landing on his back…he may not be for long."

"Aren't you supposed to be trained for this sort of thing?" Cawlin asked with a furrowed brow. Orielle placed a hand on Groose's neck and another his chest.

"His airways are clear," she said before acknowledging Cawlin's question. "I'm trained, but this is much more serious than some regular first aid and I don't have anything here to help him. He needs to get to Greba…now."

"How can I help?" Cawlin asked desperately.

"Go to Greba," she said with the same frantic speed, Cawlin standing up immediately. "She lives two houses away from the Academy. Fly there and tell her that a patient is on the way that fell from his Loftwing onto his back. She'll know what to do. Be sure to come back with a stretcher and a pink potion, red too if she has one on hand."

"We'll have to walk him back with the stretcher ourselves," she continued, as if thinking it through before her confidence returned. "I'll stay here and make sure he lives long enough until we can get him to her."

Orielle looked up beyond the trees, at the fading smoke.

She didn't expect them to truly destroy themselves, but they had, they had shot Groose down and risked his life. There was a destructive chaos in this conflict that had the potential to hurt everyone.

"If you see Gaepora, or any other knights on your way tell them to go to the Sealed Temple," Orielle continued. "Groose may not be the only one in critical condition."

Cawlin nodded and, having already whistled in the middle of her explanation, mounted his Loftwing quickly, flying away with a great haste.

Orielle looked to Groose once more, concentrating on his continuing pulse, the way it felt on her fingertips and felt as if it coursed even into her own veins.

With one hand gripped on his wrist, she took her other hand and placed it in his, gripping it tightly. Her fingers interlaced his and although Groose's own fingers were motionless and unmoving, she still gripped his hand.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I didn't know…I…"

Her head bowed as more tears fell, her breath hiccuping and gasping.

"I didn't know," she blubbered, her voice choking on her words.

Foolishly, she imagined his pulse running beyond repetitive beats, reanimating his hand and thus his fingers curling around hers with that warmth she remembered and cherished.

Orielle didn't remember the first day she saw him, any one moment where at first sight they already knew their love like in fairytales. She didn't remember if they had ever passed glances, if they had ever even passed each other's thoughts before their first conversation.

They were both pushed to the sidelines at Link and Zelda's wedding, watching the couples dance while striking up a conversation that started with Groose making a punny remark. Orielle laughed and pretty soon, Groose asked her to dance. She felt her hand in his and her heart leapt like it never had before. His hand was safe and it was warm as it continued to stoke her heart over the next several months, Orielle falling in love with a young knight two years her junior.

It all seemed so distant now, the shining summer days of jokes and smiles and laughter, even the winter months when she would come down to the Surface to see rain or snow, all those magical things that made every next touch like a dream. Even when they separated, she ached for his warmth, how with one touch she felt he was everything she needed.

Groose's hand was rather cold now, and kept its stillness, but she refused to let go.

Her heart hung on every next pulsing beat of his own, fearing they would grow increasingly weaker until, in a very Groose fashion, they started to grow stronger.


	42. Lain To Rest

Indigo knocked her fisted hand on the door three times before returning her arms to a crossed position, waiting for a response.

She stood with no hesitation, her asymmetrical black cloak draped over her shoulders and concealing all but her iron greaves and open-toed footwear. Because of the diagonal edge of the cloak, the tight, dark blue of her pants was revealed up to her hip, where a where an orange-red sash was tied, the excess dangling tattered like feathers. The fingertips that were clearly the extension of a iron gauntlet and the long spear attached diagonally to her backside teased conflict and war to passers-by, but she afforded them no glance.

The door opened with a creak to a reveal an old woman she could only assume was the town doctor, hunched over with scary yellow eyes and taut white hair. Greba peered at the tall woman before her, those odd eyes hued like blood, them both looking at each other with the same unfamiliar gaze.

"Can I help you?" Greba asked.

"I am here to inquire after your patients," Indigo said. "I'm a colleague of theirs."

Greba continued to look at her suspiciously.

"A friend, huh?" Greba said. "Prove it."

Indigo exhaled a sigh, trying not to let her annoyance grow.

"One of your patients has two triangles on the back of his hand," Indigo said. "You were told to keep it secret, and that only five other citizens knew of it. Consider me the sixth."

Greba looked Indigo up and down before she nodded and stepped aside. Opening the door completely, Greba allowed Indigo entrance before she closed the door.

She led Indigo to a large room, the first entrance to the right exposing two rows of white beds, all twelve of which occupied.

Greba's glance shifted to a particular bed on the left side.

"That's my assistant, Orielle," Greba said before adding pointedly. "If she stopped insisting upon only doting on Groose, some of these beds might be empty sooner."

"S-sorry," Orielle said, stepping away from Groose's bedside and approaching the two women.

"Orielle," Indigo said, holding out her hand in greeting. "It's nice to meet you."

Orielle didn't take her hand, instead gaping at the woman's height, her strange eye color, her white hair, her foreign clothes.

"I apologize," Indigo said, her hand falling back to her side. "I was taught that your custom upon the first greeting is to shake hands. Perhaps I am mistaken."

"No, no," Orielle said, offering her own hand. "Sorry, I've just never seen anyone like you before…up close I mean. During the battle I caught a few glimpses but…"

She caught herself blabbering, letting out a nervous chuckle as Indigo slowly moved to shake her hand. Orielle figured she must seem crazy, the way Indigo was looking at her.

"My name is Indigo," she said in that cadence, that way of speaking that was so interesting to Orielle's ears. These people had such a peculiar accent that intrigued her. She'd only ever heard how her own people spoke. They shook hands.

"It's nice to meet you, Indigo," Orielle said.

"Why don't you show her around?" Greba prompted Orielle.

"Of course," Orielle said with a nod.

She turned around to look upon the beds on the right side.

"Most of them are just recovering," she said. "Although we have potions to repair the damage they sustained from the blast, potions can only do so much. Their bodies are recovering the only way they can, with time and sleep."

Orielle looked to the left side, particularly the five beds she figured Indigo would have the most interest in. They all paced forward slowly.

"We think Link caught the worst of it," Orielle said. "He was farthest from the explosion, but with the damage to his ribs, we think he hit a wall. Like any of the rest of them, he's been sleeping for the past couple hours. Any of them could wake up at a moment's notice. Their injuries are healed, but they will be sore."

She walked to the next bed.

"Zelda was closer," Orielle said, pacing to pass Karane and Pipit. "No broken bones that we could tell, but burns in various places. They seem superficial and even Karane's arm is a minor fracture. If the blast didn't knock them all unconscious, I don't doubt they would have kept fighting. But, instead, they got to spend the past couple hours asleep in here."

Orielle approached the last bed, hugging her arms close.

"What about him?" Indigo said with a motion to Groose.

"Groose wasn't with the others," Greba interjected. "Got shot out of the sky and landed on his back. He's in stable condition, but as far as recovery goes…the case is unprecedented. The bones in his back will mend with time, and the potions will help with that, but…"

"But what?" Indigo asked.

"We can't know for sure until he wakes up," Orielle added, with a great deal of sadness. "But Greba thinks there may be nerve damage. There…is a chance he may never walk again."

"I see," Indigo said, Orielle averting her glance.

They heard a grunt behind them, all three looking back quickly to see Link sitting up with a wince, an arm braced around his ribs.

"Oh for goddesses sake," Greba said walking forward. "Lay back down."

"I'm fine," Link said, his voiced strained. "Where am I?"

He looked up, his blue eyes widening immediately at the sight of people in beds.

"Zelda!" He exclaimed, his panicked breaths quite painful. He looked to his left. "Where is…"

"Zel!" He exclaimed when he saw her, rushing out of bed but only making it halfway.

He seethed in pain, clutching the fabric of his shirt more and bowing his head.

"Zelda is fine," Orielle said, her gentle hands on Link's shoulders guiding him back to his bed. "Better than you."

"Why is she in bed?" He asked desperately, sitting down. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Indigo asked.

"What? What is it?" Link asked, looking between the three of them.

"There was an explosion," Indigo explained. "The force knocked you all unconscious, broke some bones but…"

Link was listening patiently, but that wore off quickly. He readjusted his arm.

"You guys weren't the target," she continued. "They blew up the Sealed Temple…it's reduced to ash now."

Link felt nauseous, a great weight lifting from his head, dizzying him. His chest constricted in a sort of anger that he felt his insides curl and rise up. He shook with that fuming anger as he resisted the urge to throw up, right then and there.

With every ounce of will he could summon, he stood up instead, clutching his ribs for dear life. He was breathing quite heavily.

"Link?" Orielle asked.

He sat back down in his shock, his mouth popped open in speechlessness. It was apparent he was restless, not knowing what to do. He stood back up.

"The sword still stands, of course," Indigo assured him. "I'm the only Sheikah who isn't guarding it at the moment. But the attackers now know of the sword, of course not what it is or what it hides, but it is now a confirmed target from their perspective. Only the ones who ended up on our side remain, in this very room, in fact. Most of the attackers, however, got away. I wouldn't be surprised if another attack happened once they recuperate."

Link sat back down and released a heavy exhale.

"We failed them," Link said quietly. "We were deceived…by the beauty in their ignorance. We planted the seeds for Hyrule to flourish, but we didn't nurture them. We can't blame them…for us thinking that peace would remain even when they had every reason to wage war. We can't blame them for our carelessness."

Link looked to Zelda as she slept. From what Link could see, an oval of a pink-orange burn was on her right cheek, her right arm and leg similarly colored, but other than that, she seemed fine.

"She was right," he finished before blinking and bowing his head. Link stood up and walked off, outside and into the fresh air.

Orielle, Indigo, and Greba watched him go before Indigo left as well, figuring her job in both acquiring information about their well being and telling at least one of them of the situation was completed.

A silence fell over Orielle and Greba.

"Are you ready to do that four more times?" Greba asked, looking to the beds of Zelda, Karane, Pipit and Groose.

"Why me?" Orielle asked.

Greba leaned in closer.

"Because I don't want to."

* * *

Zelda had taken it slightly better, but only because she worried, due to Link's absence, that he was dead. The Sealed Temple being destroyed was at least a better truth to swallow in comparison.

So she swallowed it, before proceeding to storm off to find Link outside.

Karane and Pipit took it the best of all of them. Patients were trickling out as they were being told and the couple took it with silent nods and held hands before leaving to go home and check on their son.

Orielle sat at Groose's bedside as the sun started to rise calmly through the windows, the golden light imprinting the pattern of the windows upon the floor of the near empty infirmary. She held Groose's hand with both of hers, thumbs running slowly up and down either side. Orielle seemed to lose her focus in her worry, spacing out until the sound of footsteps pulled her out of her silent trance.

She looked up to see Link and Zelda, who met the sadness in her eyes with their own. There was a great concern in their expression as they looked upon Groose, a concern that was entirely familiar to Orielle.

Zelda pulled up a chair next to Orielle and offered her hand as a show of support. Orielle reformed her grip on Groose's hand to instead just latch their fingers, Orielle taking her spare hand into Zelda's. On the other side of the bed sat Link, his arm around his ribs as he stared with an unwavering concern at his best friend.

The silence didn't break. In fact, they sat stewing in concern for a long while until Groose's eyelids started to flicker, all of them immediately sitting up in alarm.

Orielle left Zelda's hand to go to Groose's immediate side, Zelda and Link watching intently as a yellow coloration broke through his eyelids.

"L," he said as his eyes drifted open. "Are you there?"

Orielle squeezed his hand tighter.

"Yes," she said. "Yes, I'm here."

Groose smiled, which made Orielle exhale a chuckle.

"I love you," Groose said.

Orielle's smile remained, her brown eyes melting.

"I love you, too," she replied.

"Can you take my hand?" He asked.

It was so innocent.

Her heart broke.

"Groose, I…I'm already holding your hand."

Link and Zelda shared the same look as Orielle teared up.

"I can't feel it," he said, starting to panic. "L, I…I can't feel it."

"It's okay," she said, crying as she pet his forehead, running her fingers through his red hair. "It's okay. You are alive, and that's what matters."

"L, What happened?" He asked, trying to stifle his panic. "Why…why can't I feel anything?"

Orielle shook her head, her eyelids clamping.

"You're crying," Groose ascertained, his eyes deepening into concern. "What's wrong?"

"You fell," Link said, assuming Orielle had lost the composure to, "from your Loftwing. Actually, you…got shot down…landed on your back. Your Loftwing was found and is…going to be fine but you…are paralyzed…from the neck down."

Groose's eyes searched nothing as he processed Link's words. He looked to Orielle, who nodded.

His eyes narrowed and teased tears.

"Is it permanent?" He asked.

"We don't know," Orielle said with a shake of her head. "But I will be with you every step of the way to help you recover, no matter what. I promise."

Groose gave slight nods.

"Okay."

Orielle moved to hover above him, placing a soft kiss on his forehead. Groose met her eyes as she slowly rescinded, the small exchange prompting her to crash her lips instead down to his.

Zelda looked to Link and mouthed,

'Do we tell him?'

He gave a heavy sigh.

'I think we have to,' Link mouthed back.

"Thank Hylia I can still feel that," Groose said as Orielle withdrew with a smile that matched his.

He craned his neck slightly to look around before his head plopped back down on the pillow.

"So you are here," he said, they assumed to Zelda. "Why the silence? You usually berate me for using that name."

"Groose," she started with an emerging sadness. "There's something else…"

Orielle immediately turned her head to Zelda.

"Don't you think he's had enough for one day?" she said.

"You know," Groose started. "I am a grown man. I can take it, whatever it is. I may not feel it, but I know my strength."

Zelda paused as Link bowed his head, Orielle keeping her hand in Groose's even if he couldn't feel it.

"The attackers…" Zelda started. "The ones that shot you down…because they did that they…blew up the Sealed Temple, every last bit except for the Master Sword."

Groose likely had to most difficult reaction to watch. His face didn't match his body, as it fumed with a red anger. It looked as if he were trying not to move, when it reality he just couldn't.

"I'm gonna kill them."

"Groose…" Orielle said.

"I am," he insisted. "I'm going to kill them. I'm going to get off this damn bed and send them straight to hell, every last one of them."

"Groose, it wasn't their fault," Link said.

Groose laughed.

"Bull."

"Groose—"

"No, Link!" Groose said, his head turning. "I don't want to hear it! Some weird moral thing where we failed our responsibility. We did everything we could and it _still_ wasn't enough. _They_ were the ones to make the decision, not us. I'm going to track them down, mark my words."

"Although I don't condone murder," Link said. "If it makes you feel better. Some of them aren't far."

"What?"

"There are some who changed," Link said. "Zelda persuaded them to switch sides. They're waiting for us to talk to them."

Groose shifted his glance to the ceiling.

"Bring me the ones who knew what they were doing."


	43. Remorse

There were ten of them.

Sitting, waiting impatiently, with all sorts of nervous habits like pacing or biting nails or twiddling thumbs.

At the sound of door opening, however, they froze. They watched with an anticipatory apology as Link and Zelda entered the room.

"We're so sorry."

"We were just curious."

"We didn't mean to cause such a trouble."

"I had no idea."

They had all rushed forward, surging towards Link and Zelda, yet Cawlin sat in the corner, head down and arms dangling off his bent knees.

"One at a time, please," Link said. "Let's discuss this like adults."

Various nods ensued as they sat back down, Link and Zelda finding two chairs and completing the circle. Link pulled out a piece of paper.

"Now I know this will seem kind of silly," Link said. "But I want each of you to say your name. This is just in case anyone is actually missing."

Around the circle they went, Link jotting down the names of Driss, Eagus, Fledge, Dodoh, Luv, Bertie, Rupin, Jakamar, Finch, and Cawlin.

"Okay and now the names of the others."

Link couldn't deny that he pressed a bit harder when he wrote the names of Toby, Tarvin, Parrow, and about twenty others he once knew as friends.

Link looked over the lists, his blue eyes scanning the names.

They really were divided in half, twenty-two Hylians in total off goddesses know where plotting goddesses know what while thirty residents remained safe in Hyrule township.

"Yeah," he said to Zelda, handing her the list, "that's everyone."

"We're sorry for keeping you here," Link said. "We just want clarification on what happened. We will return you to your families as soon as possible."

"Until then, however," Zelda added. "We want you all to tell us as much as you know about what happened last night."

They said basically the same thing, that they were curious about the Sealed Temple and were told they were just looking. Only Rupin knew about the bombs because he supplied them, but apologized profusely with shakes of his head insisting that it was just good business and that he just wants to go back to the Bazaar.

They all seemed to genuinely have no knowledge of the bombs, nor the motivation to be so vindictive. Link was happy to hear their honesty, especially among friends. Only a few attributed their changing sides to learning about Zelda's identity, but they also admitted that they hadn't truly considered staying away from the Sealed Temple as respecting Hylia's wishes, that their curiosity would have to be dampened. They also did not like Parrow's open defiance of their goddess, which they also apologized for.

Driss, Eagus, Fledge, and the other knights volunteered to help Link and Zelda with anything, saying that it didn't have to be defense if that wasn't appropriate, but they wanted to make up for what they've done. Those who weren't knights were just satisfied with going home.

Yet, Cawlin stewed in the corner, silent and brooding, with a sadness that stilled him.

"Cawlin?" Zelda prompted. "What about you?"

Zelda and Link waited as Cawlin stared at the floor, the bland, unexciting floor that surely had nothing remarkable.

"I want to see him," he said before clarifying, "Groose."

"I don't think that's the best idea," Link said after exchanging glances with Zelda.

"I know he can't hurt me in his condition," Cawlin said, looking up. "I need to talk to him, and it seems like now may be the only time."

* * *

Orielle took a cautious hand to the center of Groose's back, her fingertips brushing the spine below his bare skin.

"No one is going to feel anything if you do it that way."

Orielle glanced up to Greba to find a look of disappointment.

"I don't want to hurt him," Orielle reasoned.

"Fine," Greba said with a sigh, leaning forward and reaching out both hands, Orielle's hand drifted away.

She started at Groose's neck, kneading slightly, but still much more bravely than Orielle as her finger searched along the bone. She stopped near the middle, where the swelling was greatest.

"It's definitely here," she said, in her face a contemplation as she gently studied it more. She visibly winced.

"What?" Orielle asked. "What is it?"

"This vertebra," Greba prompted, a finger gently pointing. "It's why he's paralyzed."

Greba leaned back in her chair, Orielle feeling the vertebra with a reclaimed bravery.

"From what I can tell," Greba explained. "The bone cracked, into how many pieces I'm not sure, but it was enough for at least one of them to lodge itself into the spinal cord. It took the brunt of the impact, maybe because of how he fell, maybe because of the natural curve of his spine, maybe there was something like a rock, or maybe all three. Everything below that point is going to take a lot more than potions to be felt again. Walking is a long-term goal, but I can see him at least feeling his arms fairly soon."

Orielle nodded in understanding.

"He's lucky," Greba said as she stood up. "That he didn't fall from far, or that he didn't land anywhere but his back. I would wager that he wouldn't have survived anything else. Even landing on his upper back would have potentially blocked his airways."

"Should we give him his potion for the day?" Orielle asked. "For the pain? And to see if he feels anything?"

Greba nodded.

"Don't get your hopes up," she said before walking off.

Orielle took a hand to Groose's back, gently stroking the swollen area with the backs of her fingers.

"It's going to be fine, L," Groose said. "She said I was lucky."

"But…but if you weren't…"

"L, ever since I was small I've known this was a danger of being a knight of Skyloft," Groose said. "Link's dad dying all those years ago, falling below the clouds with no hope for recovery…it was a stark reminder to us all. It could have gone so much worse, but it didn't. I'm mostly glad that you are okay."

Orielle smiled.

"Only because you're such a good teacher," she said turning to his head, the back of the chair at her side and her arms casual draped upon it. "You should have seen me fighting. I might have even been better than you."

"We'll just have to see about that," Groose jived, Orielle laughing. Groose had almost forgotten the absolutely infectious sound of her unrestrained joy.

"Sorry to interrupt, but…"

Orielle looked up, her smile fading slightly at the sight of Link.

"You have a visitor," Link said.

"Is it someone I'm talking to or someone I'm killing?" Groose asked.

"Someone you're talking to because we aren't killing."

Groose sighed.

"Can I at least be flipped over?"

"Of course," Orielle said, standing up. "Link, will you help me?"

"Sure," he said with a step forward, arms open and waiting.

"Go ahead and brace his back," she said, gripping his shoulder. "When I say go, keep it supported until I say to lower him down…gently…"

Link nodded, placing a firm hand on his back and another on his shoulder.

"Three, two, one, go," she said before pushing to prop Groose up on his shoulder. Link, by instinct, taking the weight.

"Now lower," she said as Link placed Groose back on the bed as gently as he could. Link slid his hands from underneath Groose and clutched his own sore ribs as they resurged with pain.

"I know what you're thinking," Groose said. "It's all muscle."

Orielle rolled her eyes. Groose turned his head to Link.

"Now who is the person I have the pleasure of not killing?"

"Just me," Cawlin said, stepping into Groose's eye-line.

"Oh," Groose said, his glance returning to the ceiling.

"Groose, I…I'm so sorry," he said sincerely. "I didn't know about the bombs. I left as soon as you fell…I couldn't bear it if you…"

He faltered, Groose looking to him quickly, his brow furrowing.

"You saw me fall," he said.

"So did Link and I, Groose," Orielle said. "It doesn't mean he was there."

"I was," Cawlin said.

Link watched the yellow in Groose's eyes change as it never had before, hued with betrayal.

Groose's eyes were usually like the sun, wide with a surprise or an elated joy. They often showed his inner softness, broadcast it in a way his demeanor did not. They could flame with determination and danger as well when the situation arose, those suns burning bright. Yet, the absolute betrayal he saw now was a hue Link supposed he never wanted to see in his friend, not burning, but aching.

"I was there," Cawlin said. "The group of people with the bombs. We saw you in the sky…they told me to shoot you and I aimed the arrow, but…then I saw it was you, I…"

He was starting to tear up.

"I couldn't do it," he continued. "But…he took the bow from my hands and…and he did it for me."

Groose closed his eyes with a sigh.

"But I could've stopped him," Cawlin insisted. "Pushed it out of his hands, I should have. As soon as I saw you fall…I felt so bad…I let them go on their way and went to find you…I was so worried. But if…if I had known what they were planning, how quick they would resort to violence to get into the temple…I wouldn't have joined, I swear. If…if I had known that Orielle would find you, that they were going to blow up the temple…Groose, I would have stayed with them and stopped it, I…I could have stopped _so_ much."

Groose's expression had softened from and angry realization of betrayal to a kindness and forgiveness.

"Cawlin, you…" Orielle said. "You did so much. Helping me…you saved Groose's life."

"L," Groose started. "Can you do me a favor?"

"I'm not killing him for you, Groose."

Groose could see the fear in Cawlin's eyes.

"No, no," Cawlin said, clamping his eyes shut and readying himself. "It's fine, I deserve it."

"Hug him," Groose said, all three of them equally surprised. Cawlin opened one of his eyes. "For me…would you?"

"What? What is this?" Cawlin asked as Orielle came around the bed and knelt before the short man. "I don't deserve…"

Orielle had wrapped him in a great big hug, Groose smiling warmly.

"Thank you, Cawlin," Groose said, "for being a good friend."


	44. Story

Zelda scanned the page slowly, reading from left to right as her head tipped to lean on Link's shoulder. On their stomachs they lay on their bed, both invested in the book they read, them each holding a side in order to keep the book open. Zelda moved to turn the page and Link smiled at the small reminder that they were reading together, and that they seemed to have the same reading speed.

"Do you know who wrote this?" Link asked.

"There's no name on the book," Zelda said in reply. "When my father gave it to me to read, he said it was published anonymously…decades ago. Why?"

"They're smart," Link said. "Like you."

Zelda lifted her head off his shoulder and creased her brow, looking at him.

"Okay, _no_."

"Yes," Link insisted.

"Uhm," she said as she scanned the book, looking for something to quote. "'Do not blame me for such a masterful swindle,' the merchant said with a toothy grin. 'It is not I to be feared, but how I have become this way. Do you not fear what you may become? This horrible world, how am I made out to be the villain when it is the world who has made me so?'"

"I am _not_ that smart," Zelda said, looking from to book to Link.

"If you insist, my love," Link said with a slight shrug.

Zelda smiled with a blush as they both returned to the book, chirps of insects and sounds of critters serving as the accompaniment to the rhythm of the words they read, that filtered through their through minds.

The candlelight enlightened the words where the moonlight fell short, the moonlight that was bright outside dampened by shining through only the small window of their bedroom.

It was brighter in the infirmary, the windows larger and greater in number. Orielle lit the lamp nonetheless, breathing away the small flame near her finger on the stick of wood with a puff of air as the now lit lamp flickered.

"Orielle," Groose prompted, his head already turned to her. "Look at me."

She was on verge of tears as she forced her glance to lock with his.

"It's okay," he said slowly with a surprising calm. "Just because I didn't feel anything today, it doesn't mean I never will."

"But it _could_ ," she insisted.

"Take my hand," Groose said. "Fold my fingers around yours."

She did as he requested.

"Everything will be okay," Groose assured her. "Nothing can keep Groose down. And with your care, I know I'll be up and at 'em as soon as I can. Think of this as an opportunity for me to get some good resting in before the next battle."

Orielle nodded, tightening her grip around his hand and forgetting that he couldn't feel it.

"Before then, I…" he continued. "I want to tell you everything. Everything I kept secret. Now seems the perfect time."

"Groose," she said with shakes of her head. "From what I can tell, you had good reason to keep your secrets. You don't have to tell me anything if it's better kept under wraps. I trust you more than anything."

"The way I see it," Groose said in reply. "Most of those secrets are starting to be out in the open anyway and the ones that aren't, well…it's hard to imagine us going the rest of our lives without you knowing."

"The…the rest of our lives?" Orielle repeated, asking herself if she misheard what he said.

Groose didn't reply, his expression only sinking into a deep love.

"If you'll have me," he said.

"Are…are you…proposing?" She asked.

"I…" Groose started before registering what she said, his head popping up. "Wait, what? I didn't…"

"You're not," Orielle said, her face going completely red. "Okay. Forget I said anything."

"I…could," Groose suggested.

"No, no it's fine," Orielle said, beyond embarrassed. "I'm tired. I jumped way far past conclusion, don't…don't mind me."

A silence fell as they looked away from each other.

"Do you want me to propose?" Groose asked. "I wasn't exactly planning on it, but…"

"Groose, really, it's fine," Orielle insisted. "Don't worry about it."

"L…" Groose started as he looked at her.

"Go ahead," she said as she situated herself where she sat on the bed. "Tell me your secrets. I want to hear the whole story."

Orielle sat eagerly, waiting with her back straight and her legs crossed.

"You're going to want to be more comfortable than that," he warned.

Orielle stood up and pushed the closest hospital bed to his so that they met up. Crawling on top, she snuggled herself close to him, making sure that her head fit into the crook of his neck so he could feel some part of her.

"Will you marry me?" Groose asked.

"No," Orielle said almost immediately, curling a bit closer, "and no more distractions. I want to hear everything. You know how much I love hearing you tell stories."

Groose sighed.

"Okay," started Groose. "I guess it started a couple years ago. I had this horrible idea to steal and trap Link's Loftwing, well, actually it's still pretty ingenious. No Loftwing, no race, no alone time with Zelda. Pretty foolproof until he found it. I was so jealous of him then, their connection. Get ready for a whole lot of the jerk I used to be, by the way."

"I already am," Orielle said with a small smile.

* * *

**Author's Note: Short, sweet, and maybe losing quality (I never know). Anyways, I hope all of my readers are doing okay!**


	45. Ruins

"Halt! Who goes there?!"

Link and Zelda exchanged glances before looking back up at the Sheikah. Zelda craned her head to see them all encircled shoulder to shoulder protecting the Master Sword.

"Hylia's chosen hero," Link said. "And…Hylia…"

Zelda waved with a small smile.

"Really?" the Sheikah asked, looking them both up and down. It was obvious she didn't believe them.

Link rolled his eyes, unstrapping his leather gauntlet and showing her the back of his hand, his fingers bent into a fist.

"There's only two," the Sheikah said.

"So?" Link retorted, starting to get frustrated. "You don't have any."

"All right, all right," Zelda said, lowering Link's arm, ensuring his fingers softened to entangle hers. "Is my father here? Headmaster Gaepora?"

"Name recall will do nothing for you," the Sheikah said. "I am under strict orders from Indigo to let absolutely no one pass."

"Father!" Zelda exclaimed, trying to look over their tall height to no avail.

"Zelda?" She heard in response before she saw him part through the Sheikah. "For goodness sake, let them through!"

Gaepora pulled them in right as the Sheikah's shoulders closed right up, Link and Zelda entering the ruins of the Sealed Temple.

"Sorry about that," Gaepora said. "Security around here is what it should have been, I suppose."

But Link and Zelda had stopped, gaping at the silent emptiness.

Everything was gone of the temple that had stood for thousands upon thousands of years. The tree reduced to ash, the columns mere dust, the walls and ceilings caved in. There were no stairs, heavy doors now stacked on top of each other amongst the rubble.

The only thing was the apparently impenetrable Master Sword and its pedestal, standing upright and strong, glistening as if nothing ever happened. If anything, this proved that only one thing could get someone into the Sacred Realm, and that was being the master of the very sword before them.

"This…this is…" Zelda started with shakes of her head.

"I know, it looks pretty bad," Gaepora said. "We just have to rebuild stronger."

"R-rebuild?" Link stammered. Gaepora looked to his son-in-law.

"Why not?" Gaepora asked.

"I mean," Link said. "Sure, I suppose something has to physically protect the Master Sword eventually, but…so soon? Shouldn't we be focusing on the people who got away? Their next move? We build something now and it'll just get blown up again."

"True, true," Gaepora said with nods that turned his head to oversee the vastly ruined temple. "But you can't blame a guy for planning."

"Are you going to rebuild it the same?" Zelda said with a step forward to her father.

"Now, hold on," Link tried.

"No, actually," Gaepora replied. "I've drawn up plans to make to just a bit different. Here, I'll show you."

They walked off to a table, leaving Link in their dust.

"Guys," he said as he followed. "I think we should actually talk about the threat of attack before we do anything irra—"

But Link stopped at the table when he saw the drawing, peering at the lines, how this new-fangled temple looked oddly familiar.

Link placed a hand on it as he studied it. It was taller and narrower than the Sealed Temple. It had columns that reached skyward that had cone-like shapes at their tops and arched, gothic windows like something out of a book, something out of a fairytale…

"I feel like I've seen this before," Link said slowly and quietly. "In a dream, or…something…"

"Maybe that's good sign," Gaepora guessed, but Link shook his head.

"No," Link said much stronger, stepping away from the table. "It doesn't matter. We have to stay focused. Rebuilding is great, but we have to think like them, figure out their next move."

"Okay," Zelda said. Both her and her father were turned to Link. "The group that entered the temple. All they would have found was the fruit tree and the sword."

"If they tried pulling it and it didn't work," Link said, figuring it out as he did. "That's probably why they tried to blow it up. Since that didn't work, logically they would try to look for other methods, regroup and recover like us, but also formulate a way to take the sword when they come back for it. They don't know it can't be taken and they won't listen to us if we told them."

"But what way would they think of?" Asked Gaepora.

"Magic," Indigo said, interjecting the conversation with a sort of wisdom that begged no objection. The focus went to her.

Her black cloak was off and she looked completely ready for battle. Like the Sheikah around them, she had armor along her arms and shins, likely in place of a shield, her spear latched to her back. The open-toed shoes and tight, dark blue fabric seemed to be a sort of uniform, Indigo the only one with the tattered orange fabric around her waist. Her chest was covered in tight white wrapping and over top it, the strap that held her long spear secure to her back. Incidentally, the skin that showed exposed a scar running across her shoulder, well faded and not from the battle waged days before.

"My people once were like yours," Indigo said, "not the division, but the powerlessness. You, or more accurately the goddess Hylia, once helped us harness dormant magical abilities. I do not doubt that with the right determination, your people may find similar abilities within themselves. Although this time, their powers would not be well-intentioned."

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Zelda asked, stifling her panic. "Track them down? Stop them?"

"No," Link said, shaking his head. "We've learned from our mistakes. We left once and we left ourselves vulnerable, even if it was to the Sheikah's good intentions. We stay here, we stay strong, and we'll be ready for the day they come."


	46. Stronger

Link pulled back the taut string of the bow, feeling the flexible wood bend in his hold as his eyes focused on his target. His exhale was deep, relaxing him as he closed and opened his eyes. He tried to think of nothing else but the red dot in the distance until it didn't seem too far at all. Link released the waiting arrow at the apex of his anticipation, it sinking into the white circle surrounding the red dot.

His lips twisted slightly in disappointment, kneeling down and picking up another arrow to try again.

Reassembling his focus, he pointed the tip of the arrow yet again, aiming to lodge it in the very center. He would never have the accuracy that his wife boasted, but he gave a great deal to the effort of trying to improve his aim.

Link narrowed his focus as he tried to push away the thought of what he was training for.

Hurting his former friends…

No, it was to protect Zelda, always to protect Zelda.

By hurting his former friends…

Parrow flashed in his mind, Peater, Tarvin, Toby.

For a split second, the seasoned knight himself replaced the target, Link lowering his bow before the target returned to his sights.

A great fear overcame him as he felt the tip of the arrow at his fingertips, the piercing edge, sharpened to puncture the target. These arrows were built to kill Octoroks and Skytails, not people. He hoped he wouldn't have to as he aimed the arrow, pulling the string back.

'How would you know?' Horg's voice echoed in his ears. 'You earned your title on nothing but nepotism.'

Link's brow furrowed as he recalled the memory, Horg pointing a finger at Link's aggression, at his insistence on protection and rooting it as the cause of all of this, that he was ill-qualified and therefore to blame. Link had made him bleed in that moment. He didn't mean to, but, as a result of his carelessness, blood was shed.

How appropriate.

Link released the arrow, it flying into the exact center of the target.

He knew anger and frustration were unreliable and dangerous methods as he lowered his bow with an exhale. He shouldn't rely on it like that.

Link looked over to Zelda, who was swinging the sword she held with a growing strength, slicing the air. Link smiled.

He placed the bow down and walked to the log on the side of the room, pulling it out.

"What are you doing?" Zelda asked.

"You're getting stronger," Link said as he dragged it out to the center of the room. "Maybe you can split the log."

"I doubt it," Zelda said, tracking him with her eyes.

He stopped and wiped one hand off with the other as Zelda approached.

"Besides," she said. "Wouldn't I feel stronger?"

Link shrugged.

"Sometimes you just don't know until you test yourself."

"All right," Zelda said, aligning herself with the log. Link stepped back. "Don't laugh at me."

"I won't," Link said, crossing his arms. "I promise."

"Okay," she said out of her deep breath. "Here it goes."

"Hyaah!" She exclaimed as she jumped forward with a vertical strike, Link's arms uncrossed and his lips parted.

Zelda's eyes were closed shut were she stood, feeling the swords' tip against the floor. She knew opening her eyes was inevitable, and that Link's silence surely meant that she had made only a dent in the log, that he was stifling a laugh.

But when she opened her eyes and saw the log completely halved, the sword clattered to the ground. Zelda couldn't believe it, letting out an excited chuckle before she rushed into Link's waiting embrace.

"I…I can't believe I did it," she said when they released.

"I can," Link assured her.

She shook her head.

"You're just being nice."

"No," Link insisted. "I knew you always had it in you. You're strong and smart and…you're special."

"Special?"

"Not in the goddess-type way, more like…" Link looked for the words up at the ceiling. "You give so much effort to everything you do…you always end up being so good at it. I don't know how you do it."

"You're special too, Link," she said with a smile. "Don't sell yourself short. How's your archery going?"

"Not as well," Link said in reply.

Zelda looked to the target before returning her glance to him.

"You hit the mark! That's great!"

"Not consistently," Link argued, still a discouragement in his voice. His eyes flitted downwards.

"Hey," Zelda said softly, bringing a hand to his cheek. "What's wrong? Is it your ribs?"

"It's just been hard for me to focus," Link said with an exhale. "Thinking about what's in front of us…any day they could come back and everything we've done, all the mistakes we've made will be drudged up again."

"I know," Zelda said with slow nods. They wrapped their arms around each other, Zelda's head resting on his shoulder. "Even the temple being under construction now doesn't make me feel any better. With our injuries, too…I can tell we are all just tired. We all need a break and this worry…it just seems to deny us the luxury."

"We just have to hope that someday we'll heal," Link started, attempting to summon his hope and not drown in his worry, "that Hylia's hope for our people will be actualized, that we don't destroy ourselves in the process."

"You don't think we've already done that?" Zelda asked. Backing out of his hold to meet his eye-line.

Link shook his head.

"No," he said. "I have to believe there's still hope."

"Then I do too," Zelda assured him. "Although peace is hard to believe in…I believe in you, always."

Link smiled warmly before leaning into a small kiss on her forehead. More accurately, his lips met her bangs, but he had kissed the love of his life all the same.

"Trade?" He asked.

Zelda took her hand to the bow in Link's hands, looking down at the curved wood. She was about to take it when a different thought crossed her mind.

"Or," she said before her eyes found his. "We could spar."

Link paused for a moment as he hesitated.

"I could hurt you."

"Well, that's the challenge, isn't it?" She asked rhetorically, backing away with a smile before picking up her sword and readying it.

Link withdrew his sword with little conviction. Zelda could read his lack of enthusiasm like words on a page.

"Zel…" He said with shakes of his head. "I can't do this. If I hurt you…"

"Don't think of it like that," Zelda insisted. "Think of it as helping me out. You said yourself, slicing logs is nothing to actual combat. Why not start with an opponent who won't kill me?"

Link nodded with a shaky deep breath.

"Okay."

He struck forward and their blades met.


	47. Riddance

It was such a silly thing.

Zelda knew he was in the room as she lay in bed, staring at the way the candlelight stretched and flickered on the floor. But part of her missed him, longed for him in a way she did when he was asleep in the Sealed Temple. Without his touch to reaffirm her, she couldn't help but fear that she would look up, and he would be gone.

It was silly, Zelda detaching her head from the pillow to see Link at his whittling desk. She smiled at the assurance before sitting up.

"Are you okay?" Zelda asked.

Link shrugged.

Zelda slid out of bed.

Her body ached with fatigue and she could feel it especially in her eyes. Zelda knew Link must have felt the same. He was particularly wordless when he was tired.

She approached where Link sat at the wooden desk, stopping just behind him,

"Come to bed," Zelda said. Her arms slid around to his front, hugging his chest. "You're tired. I can tell."

"I'll be there in a bit," he said, rather lackluster.

Zelda's head met his, placing her chin on his shoulder and aligning her gaze with his.

In his hold was a small purple stone about the size of his hand, its shape similar to that of a diamond. Zelda remembered the time-shift stone fragment well from the incident at the old Sheikah village.

Link peered at it, paying Zelda no mind, studying it, how it reflected its surroundings, caught the light. It almost had a blue sheen to it.

"You haven't slept in days," she said. "Ever since we woke up in the infirmary. Don't think I haven't noticed."

Link took a pause before he replied with,

"How can I?"

Zelda gave a sigh.

"I know you're worried for their return," she said. "I am too. But being well-rested is part of being ready. You'll worry yourself sick with the delirium of fatigue."

Link didn't reply, but Zelda waited for one.

"I think I should put this back," Link said. "Back in Lanayru. It's too dangerous to be left here and if anyone found out about what it could do…we could be facing even more catastrophe."

"We've had it on a shelf for a while now," Zelda said. "I don't think anyone would suspect a small stone of having awe-inducing power."

Link kept his silence as his fingers continued to handle it, spinning it slowly.

"I think I need to keep it away from me," Link said, before correcting himself, "us."

Zelda looked to Link's profile in confusion.

"From you?"

Link sighed, the stone still in his hands as they met the wood of the table.

"Everything that's happened in the past year," he said. "Having the power to change it, what's happened to us…our mistakes…it's just too tempting."

"Maybe I can diffuse it of its power," Zelda said, Link looking to her quickly.

"Can you?" Link asked.

"I mean I've never tried it before, but Hylia always had a certain connection to these time-shift stones. The robots mined for them so she could construct the Gates of Time. If her power can activate them, maybe it can nullify them as well."

Link offered her the stone as she stood up straight from slouching over his back. Zelda took it cautiously.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Link asked as he stood up from the desk.

"Hylia was born from light," Zelda explained. "And thus her power is an extension of that. There is no darkness in it. It is pure of intention, of the shadows that crawl upon mortals."

"Well, yeah, but," Link said. "Put it on the floor or something so you don't burn your hand."

"Oh," she said. "Right."

Zelda placed it on the floor and knelt before it, sitting on her heels. Link backed away to a nearby wall.

Zelda hovered her hand over the stone as she closed her eyes.

Ever since her first instance of using Hylia's power, it had become increasingly easier to control. At one inward command, she could already feel it coursing through her, seeping from a mere thought to an energy in each and every vein, like her very blood had been surged with a golden light.

She felt it pulse to the outstretched hand, waves drifting down to the stone. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the stone was subject to her power.

However her brow furrowed when its presence clouded her mind, the stone somehow connecting to her as well. Disjoint images started to flip in her mind, blurry and unfocused, of war and pain, of ruin and rebuilding, of prosperity and peace.

She pushed them away, regaining control and dulling them, thinking only of fading the images away until her mind was clear.

Her magic settled with a slight shake of her hand, opening her eyes and lowering her arm.

"I don't know if that worked," Zelda said as she found Link, who had stepped forward, "at least for sure. I…suppose there's only one way to find out."

Zelda grabbed one of Link's wood carving tools off the desk, preparing to strike the stone.

"Wait!" Link cautioned, Zelda looking up in response.

"If it didn't work, we're only going there and back, Link. I promise."

"No, it's not that," Link corrected. "It's just…this house didn't exist thousands of years ago. If we strike that and it _does_ take us back…well, I'd rather not be on the second floor of a house that's about to disappear."

"I didn't even think of that," Zelda said, lowering the tool.

"Come on," Link said, grabbing the purple-blue stone and heading out. "We'll do it outside."

Zelda got up and followed him down the stairs and out the door. The night was calm, no onlookers to bear to witness to their experiment. Even Karane and Pipit's house had their lights out.

Zelda placed the stone down onto the grass with a deep breath in and out, both her and Link sitting and facing it. With barely a thought, they found each other's hands.

"Three," Zelda started.

"Two," Link continued.

"One," Zelda said.

"Now!" they said together as they struck the stone.

* * *

After the first war with Demise and his forces, Lanayru Desert declined quickly.

Without the support of the Goddess Hylia, as she was in her amber sleep in order to seal Demise in his imprisoned state, Lanayru Desert was no longer protected as it perhaps should have been. Thus, the onset of the elements of nature took their course.

The golden goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore, had designed Hyrule, the way the lands bend and curve, the way the weather obeys laws, the way nature seems to have a mind of its own, the way it lives and dies, longer and more permanent than any living being.

The elements of nature took control without Hylia's protection, Lanayru watching with great sadness as his robots withered away with the lush greenery that was once a commonality in his sights.

It became a desert. Lanayru's only hope was in the time-shift stones, that in his sadness, sometimes he was transported completely to a time where nature hadn't run its course. A nature he couldn't change.

He, however, always supposed someday, that his loophole would run dry.

And one day, on a moderate summer night, all the time-shift stones were rendered dulled and inoperative, neutralized to a purple-blue and gone away with their massive time-bending power.

Lanayru Desert was just that and nothing more.


	48. The Product of Fatigue

Nothing happened.

Absolutely nothing as Link and Zelda stared at the purple-blue stone. No floating, no quick spinning, no beaming light, no aqua coloration, no surging line that brought an unknown past.

Link and Zelda both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, you did something," Link said. "I suppose that's one less variable to worry about."

Zelda picked up the stone, its diamond shape running the length of her hand as her fingers curled around the edges.

"What are we going to do with it?" Zelda asked.

Link shrugged, gently taking it into his own hand once Zelda offered it.

"Put it back on the shelf, I suppose," Link said. "Maybe I can whittle, or more appropriately, chisel it into…something…I don't know."

Zelda brought a hand to his face, curling her fingers around his ear and tucking his dusty blonde strands of hair behind it.

"Tomorrow, at least," she said softly, entreating with a tip of her head. "Please."

Link exhaled a sigh and melted into her hand, wearing a warm smile and finally acknowledging his fatigue. His free hand met hers and he kissed the inside of her hand.

"Tomorrow," he said.

* * *

When Zelda closed her eyes, she was in his arms, listening to the rhythm of his breath and matching it with hers. His hold was everything, every touch warming her to her very core. That warmth had lulled her into sleep like it had him.

Yet now, as she opened them, she felt cold, no arms around her. Her skin tickled only slightly at the absence and the window brought a breeze that cut right through her nightgown.

"Link?" She asked as she sat up, looking around the room.

He was slumped over his desk, Zelda smiling at a sight she had seen many times before. She got up off the bed with a blanket draped over her shoulders, walking slowly to approach him.

"When I said tomorrow," she mumbled quietly with a smile. "I didn't mean it literally."

If she were being honest, he was adorable the way he slept. He sat on the chair, yet his head was on his arms, his back curled so that most of his torso was drooped on the table.

His eyelids were closed and his lips were slightly parted. She was so thankful that his sleep appeared calm and restful. No quickness in the movement of his eyes, no panicked exclamation, no hurried breaths.

Zelda planted a kiss on his forehead as she brushed his hair away from his face.

"I love you," she whispered as she withdrew.

She turned to leave, yet her eyes caught the purple-blue of something near his pillow of bent arms, the time-shift stone fragment resting on the table and touching his hand. Only it was no longer just a stone, Zelda peering at its' new form with great curiosity, her forehead twitching in contemplation. Link had shaped it into something she had never seen before and yet, the odd familiarity compelled her to be drawn to it.

She picked up the smoothened stone, shaped like a small pear dotted with holes. Carefully, she handled it with two hands, running her thumb across each hole and turning it around to its' backside.

It was heavy, not in its' weight but in its' fragility. Now hollowed, she wagered that with one accidental slip, the object would break. But there was something else to it as well. The odd importance she felt from it prompted her to step back slowly and study it as she sat at the foot of the bed. She tried to place the familiarity in her mind until she just couldn't, its' mystery outweighing each and every one of her instincts.

She only knew for sure that Link had chiseled something truly special in his restless fatigue.

Zelda was starting to eye in particular the hole at the top, the piece of the remade stone that protruded out to her. It all seem to fall into place as she put it to her lips, closed her eyes and breathed.

She jerked it away from her mouth in her shock, her eyes wide at the high tone that had just been produced.

"It's an instrument," she said in her shocked surprise.

"Link!" She said rushing forward and shaking his shoulder. She was careful to hold the stone firmly. "It's an instrument! Link!"

"Mm," he mumbled, opening one eye.

"How did you even _do_ this?!" She continued as if he was fully awake. "This is incredible."

"I don't know," Link said casually as he rubbed an eye. "I just saw it in a dream I guess."

"So you saw it in a dream, woke up, chiseled the stone, and went back to sleep?"

"I guess you could put it that way," Link said, his eyelids closing as he rested his head on his hand. His focus and admiration was completely on her. In his exhausted state, his thoughts were really on his most basic of instincts, his most fundamental aspects, and that was his love for her.

Noticing his drooping eyelids, Zelda placed the instrument in a more secure place on the shelf before guiding him to standing.

"What are you doing?" He asked sleepily, feeling her arms around him as they walked.

"Getting you back in bed," she said. "You're falling asleep."

"Mm," he hummed as Zelda gently laid him down, additionally lifting his feet onto the bed.

"Do you like it?" He asked, his blue eyes opening to her.

"Do I like what?" She asked with a smile, pulling the covers over.

"What I shaped the stone into," he explained as she sat down.

"I _love_ it," Zelda said, leaning down and kissing him. "But I'm sorry I woke you because of that." She stood upright. "I'll wake you when we have to leave, okay? We're supposed to babysit Oliver today."

"Okay," Link said with no conviction whatsoever, his eyes drifting closed and into a well-deserved sleep.

Zelda studied his peace for a second, his apparent lack of nightmarish slumber, before looking to the window. It was early, but not too early to be awake for the day, light breaching and starting to brighten the night sky, the sun preparing to rise. She wasn't quite tired, and supposed she had gotten enough sleep.

After all, she would rather be up than close her eyes to welcome another nightmare.


	49. Lullaby

"You're bringing it with you?" Link asked as he sat on the bed, sliding on the second of his two brown boots.

"Why not?" Zelda retorted as she slid the purple-blue instrument in her small bag.

"Zel," Link said as he stood up. "I fashioned that, somehow, when I was beyond tired. There is a big difference between something that makes sound and something that makes music. You keep calling it an instrument, but…"

"It is!" Zelda insisted, like a proud mother. Link held his hands up in surrender.

"If you insist," he said.

"Everything else ready to go?" He asked.

"Yep," Zelda said before they both paced down the stairs. "Karane and Pipit said they would be gone all day, so I've packed everything we'll need. I'm just _so_ glad we can do this for them. They deserve a break."

"They do," Link said, the two leaving their own house. "And I really think they will enjoy the Southern beaches. Maybe someday we'll take the day, go out there, soak up the sun, swim in the ocean."

"That sounds wonderful, Link," Zelda said as they walked along.

Groose's house was empty as they gave it a passing glance, the windows dark and exempt of life, no laughter, no off-tune humming. The sun rose upon the house nonetheless, giving it a natural golden light. Link took Zelda's hand.

"He's fine," Zelda said to assure her husband, and perhaps to assure herself.

"I know," Link replied, but Zelda gave his hand a slight squeeze nonetheless as they approached the door of Pipit and Karane's house.

She knocked on it only twice before it was opened by Pipit.

"Good morning, you two," Pipit said, being his usual chipper self. "How are you?"

"As good as we can be," Zelda said with a small smile.

"Well, come on in," Pipit said, stepping aside. "Make yourself at home."

Pipit closed the door as Link and Zelda entered.

"Karane is putting Ol to sleep, but we'll be out of your hair as soon as she does."

"There's no rush," Zelda said with a wave of her hand. "This is your day to relax."

"Hard to wrap my head around that," Pipit said before looking around the room and putting his hands on his hips. "Umm...let's see."

"His food is here," Pipit said walking to the kitchen and gesturing to the countertop. "Still the mashed foods like the last time you babysat, but we've thrown out anything with pumpkin because we think he's allergic."

"Got it," Link said with a nod.

"Other than that, there isn't much new from last time," Pipit continued. "He is still a complete angel, but he has his moments. Then again, you two have handled way worse and even that is an understatement."

"Yeah," Link said with small nods. "I think going up against an actual demon means that we are ready for…"

Link stopped himself from finishing his sentence with the word 'anything'.

No, they weren't ready for anything, and that was the problem. The confidence they had after their victory over Demise had led them into so many things that disproved they were ever ready for anything, including but not limited to civil war.

"…baby…sitting…" Link finished, inwardly wincing at the awkward silence that came from his pause.

"Okay," they heard from the other side of the room, everyone looking to Karane. "He's down. Are you ready?"

"Yep," Pipit said, grabbing a nearby bag and heading to the door.

"Bye you two," Karane said as she gave Zelda a hug, then Link. "I have complete faith in both of you."

"There is nothing to worry about," Link said with a wave of his hand.

"Okay," Karane said with a slight sigh and a smile. Joining her hand with Pipit, they left the house.

In seconds, Zelda had the oddly shaped purple-blue stone in her hands, Link not even noticing her pull it out before it was on her lips.

"What are you doing?" Link asked.

"I'm going to prove to you that this is an instrument," Zelda said before blowing into it. Disjointed tones came about as she experimented putting her fingers over different holes.

"Go for it," Link said as he walked off, cautiously towards the back room with Oliver's crib. With a small touch of the door, Link peered through the gap, seeing the little three-month old sleeping soundly and hugging a small blanket.

"He's so cute," Link said with a smile.

"Definitely," Zelda said as she fiddled silently with the instrument, as if rehearsing where her fingers would go, sometimes blowing into it to see what tone it would make.

Link stepped away from the door, leaving Oliver to his peace. He looked to Zelda with eyes that studied her, blue irises moving with his concern. Link didn't want to bring up what was on his mind and so he didn't, keeping his silence as he walked away from the door and lounged on the nearby couch with a sigh, laying on his back.

Zelda, after all, seemed content with deciphering whatever he had made last night. Bringing up the subject of them trying to conceive would not only drudge up pain for her, but was such a bad idea considering what was to come, and considering that she was still having nightmares. He didn't know if either of them could take losing another, more failure, more mistakes.

Link couldn't deny that he wanted them to try again, to see the miracle to the end, guess genders, guess whether their child's hair would lean towards the brighter yellow of Zelda's or the dusty, light brown of his own, how it might change over time. He thought of how they might sift through names like he did on his own before he slept in the Sealed Temple.

"Can I ask you something?" Link asked, staring at the ceiling, the strong wood planks with dark knots that seemed to be splotched with no pattern whatsoever. "Something about the past six months?"

"Sure," Zelda said, still transfixed on the instrument.

Link inhaled to ask his question, but Oliver suddenly starting wailing. Link scrambled to stand up, him and Zelda both rushing in the room.

Link picked up the baby and tried to lull him with a slight bounce.

"Shh," he said gently, petting his small head of dark brown hair. "It's okay."

"Link," Zelda started in a commanding tone.

"He's still crying," Link reasoned, thinking she somehow was about to object to something he was doing.

"I want to try and play him something," Zelda said, Link looking to her.

Link was about to voice his doubts when Oliver got louder. He must have known his parents were gone.

"I guess it can't hurt," Link said before looking to Oliver.

"Hey," he said in a completely different voice. "Do you want to hear a song?"

Zelda placed her lips to the instrument, calming her nerves with an inhale.

Her exhale brought a soft note, Link looking to her in surprise when the next note that followed wasn't sharp or grueling. With every next note, it seemed to soothe Link more and more. He felt the small head of Oliver rest itself against him, yet Link kept looking at Zelda.

The way each note flowed into the next, it was like she and only she was meant to play it.

When she finished, she could see Link's surprise was mere seconds from being vocalized, so she brought a finger to her lips as she put the instrument down.

From Link's arms to Zelda's Oliver went, Zelda placing him with a warm smile gently back into his crib.

She brushed his small, somehow already freckled cheek, before placing the blanket over his legs and torso. Link took the instrument as she did, studying it in awe. Zelda returned her gaze to her husband.

Zelda gave a smile, but that sort of teasing smile that made her blue eyes dance with the satisfaction of being right. Link smiled too, shaking his head with disbelief at how truly wonderful she was.

Slowly and cautiously they crept out of the room, Link leaving the door open a crack.

"Oh my _goddesses_ ," he whispered before hugging her and spinning her around.

"Where in the skies did that _come from_?" He asked, his volume increasing slightly.

"You made an instrument, Link," she said. "I just played it."

"Oh no," Link said with shakes of his head and a breaching smile. "Don't even start. You played beautifully. How? What was that song?"

"I played it on the harp once," Zelda said. "To lull the Kikwis to sleep and escape to the Skyview Temple on my own. At the time I was just trying to play anything less upbeat than the Ballad of the Goddess, but…it worked so well then, I wanted to try it now."

Link offered her the blue instrument.

"This definitely belongs to you."

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked.

"Zel, the way you played…it soothed me too, it…" he paused to consider the possibility. "It was almost like magic."

Zelda's eyes blinked a bit wider as she looked down at the instrument, taking it into her hands.

"Maybe it's something I did," she said, eyeing her reflection in the smooth purple-blue stone.

"Or maybe you are just amazing," Link suggested with a shrug. It was a simple fact to him.

"Link…" she said, adorning a blush as her gaze went down.

"It's true," he insisted.

"Enough of this nonsense," she said, looking up at him with a slight laugh. "What was it you wanted to ask me? Before…about the past six months…"

Link's eyes went sad as he was reminded of his prior question, Zelda tipping her head in intrigue.

"I'm not sure if I should," Link said.

"Why not?" Zelda said.

"Because the loss of your smile will darken the room."

Zelda's expression sank completely.

The love in her blue eyes was conveyed so well she didn't need to say a word. Zelda took his hand and led him to the couch, them sitting facing each other.

"Link, as long as I have you, I will always smile again, I promise. I'll answer any question you have."

Link's deep breath was shaky. He felt within himself the capacity to well up right here and now.

"Did you have a list?" He asked.

"A list for what?" Zelda retorted.

"A list…of names…"

Zelda closed her eyes with a sharp exhale, bowing her head and placing the purple-blue instrument down on the table. She took both his hands and tightened her grip.

She nodded. Link exhaled as his eyes searched her.

"I burned it," she said quietly. "Karane told me I shouldn't have…quite loudly in fact…she was disappointed that I had given up hope and…I think I regret it now."

"That's completely understandable, Zel," Link said. "What you went through…I can't even imagine."

Zelda returned her gaze to Link.

"I've been working on not blaming myself," she started. "But I'm still so incredibly sorry. I mean…every time…"

Her voice broke as the tears came. Link rubbed her shoulder.

"Every time I see Oliver," she blubbered on, "I can't help it…I think of…it…"

"That's it," Link said with much more summoned determination. "You can't mourn someone you don't know."

Zelda didn't understand as he rummaged for a pencil and a paper on the table, Zelda wiping her tears away as she watched him find them.

"The names on the list," he said. He sniffled his nose, but if he was crying he was ignoring it very well. "What were they?"

"Oh gosh," Zelda said as she searched nothing in particular. "Uhmm."

She closed her eyes, trying to remember the list. The pencil Link held floated above the paper.

"Eloise, Adelia, and Rayne for a girl, and…I think the boys names were Theodore and Silas."

Link took a extended exhale as he wrote them down, his lips slightly closed.

"Trying not to tear up right now," Link added.

"You know it," Zelda said in agreement.

Link finished the list and returned to sit next to her, one arm around her and the other holding up the paper.

"Rayne," he said. "It works for a girl or boy. Maybe it will be easier to mourn them now."

Zelda nodded.

"Yes, yes I think it will."

Link leaned forward and drew a heart next to the name Rayne before folding the paper up.

He closed it into Zelda's hands but kept both his hands there, as if holding it in.

"We lost Rayne," Link said, "our little angel. I know how scary this is because of that…but I promise we will heal together."

"I know where you're going with this," Zelda said, her head downcast. "The list of names…"

"And where is that?" Link asked.

She shook her head as she looked up at him.

"I can't do it, Link," she said. "It's…too much. You shouldn't put so much faith in me."

"I'm not following," Link said, slightly confused.

"You…weren't leading up to trying again?" Asked Zelda.

"Zel, of _course_ not," Link said, his expression sinking. "I would never ask that of you if you weren't ready. Albeit, the first time was a surprise for both of us, but with everything that's happened…I'm not going to ask you to risk anything, whether it's because of us being on the brink of war or just considering your own mental health."

Zelda nodded, her eyes sad.

"But I _do_ put faith in you," Link continued. "Every last bit of it and I don't regret it because I love you."

"That's no reason to believe that I will do anything but disappoint you in the future. If I can't be a mother, then…"

"Then that's okay," Link interrupted. "Because we tried. I will love you whether or not we become parents. You know that."

Zelda nodded, but Link could tell by her expression that it was something she wanted, somewhere deep within her, she yearned for it like he did. The only difference was that she was so broken that she couldn't fathom having high expectations like that. The mental stress, the worry of loss would take too much out of her, and Link knew her energy was better spent preventing this war. He never meant imply, to ask her of such a task. He only sought closure on their lost child. Now, he found himself glad he brought it up.

"When," he started before correcting himself, " _if_ the time comes that you are ready, we _will_ try again. It was always a roll of the dice, Zel. And just because Karane and Pipit were lucky when we were not doesn't mean that we never will be."

"You really think so?"

Link let out a chuckle and placed a hand on her cheek. There was that hope.

"I promise you that someday Rayne will have a sibling," he said. "It doesn't have to be today. It doesn't have to be nine months from now and it doesn't even have to be one of these names. But I promise you that we will have a child."

Zelda nodded quickly before embracing him. The paper now fisted in her hand, her fingers closed tighter around it as she prayed to any goddess that would hear her that Link was right.


	50. Necessity

"Here, I found it," Parrow said, pointing at a drawing in the stolen book.

"The…Master Sword," Toby said, reading it and giving it a good look. "It doesn't look like much. There is nothing here to describe it either, just the name."

"What if it really is just a sword?" Parrow asked.

Toby shook his head.

"No sword could withstand what we did," he said. "It shouldn't have stayed in that pedestal. This…this has a power. It _must_."

His fingertips traced the drawing until he took notice of the engraved Triforce near its hilt.

"The three triangles," Toby started to ask. "Have you found anything more on that symbol? What it means?"

"No sir," Parrow said. "But we'll keep looking. The history books we stole are from the headmaster's house, secreted away from the public. If they are hiding something, we'll find it."

"And you are sure none of you were spotted? Followed?" Toby asked. Parrow nodded his head.

"Yes sir."

"Good," Toby said, continuing to stare at the drawing. "We'll have to keep hidden like this until we make our next move."

"The good thing is that they likely took as much as a hit as we did, if not more," added Parrow. "We have the time to figure out a plan, as well as the significance of the triangles, what power it gives the sword."

"And if it really is resurrection," Toby finished quietly.

"The information to expose them," Parrow continued. "Prove to the public without interference that their secrets are causing more harm than help."

Parrow still remembered the day Orielle came home in tears, sobbing about Groose keeping secrets and how heartbroken she was that she couldn't trust him.

He was determined to expose Groose and the others and rid her of her heartbreak forever, expel her love for Groose from her heart by proving their selfishness to everyone. Then she will make the right decision and be better off for it.

"Correct," Toby said. "But in the mean time, we'll also have to figure out a way to pull the sword." He finally looked from the drawing to Parrow. "Something that gives us an advantage, a strength they don't have."

"What did you have in mind?" Parrow asked.

"Horg!" Toby called out, the younger soldier entering the conversation with a 'Yes sir'. It was obvious that the lot of them had judged Toby the leader.

"During the battle," Toby said. "How did our little _goddess_ fight?"

He had said the word 'goddess' with such a mocking spite that it was obvious he didn't believe her true identity. When Parrow had informed Toby of what Zelda claimed, Toby said it was merely a tactic to garner more forces to her side.

"I only caught glimpses," replied Horg, "but…it was some sort of magic. It was bright, too. She primarily used it for defense, though, I don't think—"

Tobin's held up hand stopped him.

"It seems Zelda has deluded herself," Toby started. "Once she played the goddess at the Wing Ceremony, and that role has gotten to her head. She thinks she is the incarnate of the goddess herself, but we know that's impossible. Our goddess would not deny us power, she would not shortchange our well-being for her selfishness, and she would not lower herself to mortality. Our goddess Hylia is perfect, and therefore the headmaster's daughter cannot be her incarnate. If Zelda, in her delusion is able to manifest such magic than so can we. I say we get to work."

* * *

End of Part II

* * *

**Author's Note: Fifty chapters and I'm not done yet? I know, I know, but I promise you someday this will end.**

**I'm going to take another hiatus before Part 3 (the last part) because I'm about to start my senior year of college and honestly Part 3 is a bit of a mess. I'll get some rest, do some school stuff, try to keep safe from the virus, and try to clean up Part 3 for you lovely, loyal, patient and forgiving people before I return in a couple weeks.**

**Until then,**

**-fatefulfaerie**


	51. The Temple of Time

**Author's Note: I am so, so sorry for the delay. This was supposed to go up a few days ago but I was admitted to the hospital a couple days before that and haven't gotten to my computer until just now. Again, so sorry.**

**Gonna be daily posts until I catch up to being on schedule. Excited for the journey ahead!**

* * *

It took a long month for the new temple to be built. Every day was long, and spent with Sheikah and Hylians looking over their shoulder for an attack.

Many feared that the new temple wouldn't be completed before it was destroyed, but that didn't make them work any less hard. Sheikah and Hylians alike respected the mysterious power of the Master Sword without knowing exactly what it was, and wanted to protect it for their goddess Hylia.

The magic of the goddess and of the Sheikah helped immensely, but it was a hot summer, and the labor put into making it a strong building that would withstand even the most destructive of bombs meant working through long days and nights.

It was of Headmaster Gaepora's design, him wanting to make something reminiscent and respectful of the long-standing Sealed Temple, but also something that could stand on its own, proudly before the statue of the Goddess Hylia.

"What's wrong with just having it be the Sealed Temple?" Her incarnate asked as she stood before the Master Sword, facing her father. Link was next to her, closer to the sword. Yet, having grown bored of the argument, had started to entertain himself with how the two triangles on his hand lit up more the closer he reached towards the sword. His hand went back and forth like an amused child.

"Because it isn't the Sealed Temple," her father argued. "Even in the past it went by a different name, the Temple of Hylia. We should come up with a new one for a new era."

Zelda sighed.

"Link, what do you think?"

"Hm?" He retorted, alerted by the sound of his name to rejoin the conversation.

"Naming the new temple," Zelda said, trying to garner his support. "Shouldn't we keep it the Sealed Temple? For Impa's sake?"

"Well, it isn't exactly sealed anymore," Link argued. "Only when I first arrived to the Surface, really."

"Exactly," Gaepora said.

"All right then," Zelda said. "What do you suggest?"

"Temple of Tells," Link said beside her.

"What does that even mean?" She said, looking to Link.

Link shrugged.

"Alliteration," he said. "It makes it sound cool."

"Oooh…Temple of Tempests," he continued, obviously on a new tangent as he looked up in thought.

Zelda however had slightly lifted a hand to him, knowing how little help he was being as her gaze returned to her father.

"If we can't come up with a name before the official induction ceremony tomorrow than it will be the Sealed Temple."

"We can do it," Gaepora said with nods, obviously taking it as a challenge. "Right, Link?"

"Temple of Tact," the knight said excitedly, looking to his wife, who returned the suggestion with a glare. "No, you're right. Out loud it doesn't sound as cool."

Link snapped his fingers.

"Got it," he said. "Temple of the Triforce. Perfect."

Zelda crossed her arms, her head tipping to its side.

"What?" Link asked.

Zelda looked as if she were waiting. It finally came together in Link's head.

"Nevermind," he said, "bad idea."

"I'm gonna go check up on the finishing touches outside with Indigo," Gaepora said with a slight laugh. "Stay here and keep thinking."

"Will do," Link replied, watching the Headmaster leave as his footsteps echoed along the tall temple. Zelda sat on the stairs and Link started to pace before her.

"We could go ask Groose," she suggested, her arms dangling over her knees. "He's usually good at this sort of thing."

"Sometimes he's good," Link said. "But sometimes he comes up with stuff like Temple of Groose. Besides, I don't want to interrupt his recovery before his big day tomorrow."

"First day using a wheelchair," Zelda agreed with nods. "I'm so proud. First time we'll see him off that bed in…what…a month?"

"Has it been a month?" Link asked as he stopped his pacing.

"I think so," Zelda said. "Seems so strange."

"In any case," Link said, sitting next to her on the steps to the Master Sword. "You definitely have the repertoire to show for it."

"What the…three songs I can play on the ocarina?" She retorted, remembering when they had talked to Kina and asked the name of the mysterious purple-blue flute-like instrument. "It really isn't much."

"No, you're so good at it," Link insisted. "What was that one song you played for your father once, the song of…"

"The song of time?" She finished for him.

"Yes," Link said with a pointed finger. "The song of time. So good."

"It was just a few notes," she said, deflecting the compliment.

"But it was just like you described, like…how the passage of time is something to mourn. You were thinking about the golden goddesses, how they live in the Sacred Realm, how that was how I lost time…how just in one pristine place, the outside world just flies by. I don't know how, but…just those few notes conveyed that feeling perfectly."

"Really?" Zelda asked, turning her head.

"Really," Link repeated, insisting upon it.

Zelda smiled and blushed.

"I never thought I would consider myself a musician," Zelda said. "I was always so bad with the harp. Having to learn it for the ceremony all those years ago…I thought myself unable to make music as beautiful as Kina with her voice or…actually you with the harp."

"So many things to disagree with," Link said. "I don't even know where to start."

Zelda bumped her shoulder into his playfully.

"My point is that I'm glad to have discovered the hobby. I've always loved music."

Link nodded, placing his arm around her shoulders.

"Then I'm happy for you."

Zelda leaned her head on his shoulder, looking at the grand mystery of chamber they were in, the Master Sword behind them and the rest of the temple before them seen through an opening with no door. She studied the architecture from this different perspective, how the sunlight filtered through the windows that she had enchanted to be impenetrable. She thought of name after name as she sat, the mysterious silence of the temple echoing upon her. An odd chill ran up her spine as she thought upon one name in particular. It turns out Link was right about the alliteration.

"How does the Temple of Time sound?" She asked, waiting for a response.

"That's good," Link said. "Kind of vague, but I like the mystery."


	52. Sanctuary

The sun rose the next day on a completed Temple of Time, iridescent light brightening the grey bricks of its exterior and filtering through stained glass windows. The light streamed through like spotlights upon the white and black checkered floor of the interior and shone between thick columns of white brick. In fact, the entirety of the temple had a whiteness that proclaimed its newness, pristine and untouched by age.

The center walkway had white tiles set diagonally to the checkered floor on either side, and at the very end of the walkway was a length of red carpet below a stone pedestal. Wide steps that surrounded the pedestal led to a large opening, a doorway with no door. Over top it was a yellow emblem of the Triforce, more a symbol of its values than an advertisement of its existence in the Sacred Realm. Ornate streaks of stone reached out, as if gradually opening out one by one, presenting the Triforce in its magnificence.

The open entryway led to a second room, circular if not octagonal, with a single stream of light coming from a window high upon the wall. The Master Sword stood upright on a wide pedestal with but a few stairs. Meant to be reminiscent of Link's experience in the Sacred Realm, the pedestal and very room copied the shape Link saw of those endless waterfall platforms.

However, it was a design choice few would partake in. Protected by strong walls and dozens of Sheikah, the Temple of Time was near impenetrable.

The only irregularity to be found as morning broke upon the sanctified temple were the two Hylians inside it.

Having drifted off the night before looking at the stars through the windows, Link and Zelda fell asleep on the stone floors. They realized their mistake when waking with sore backs, but knew they must ignore it for the guests they were anticipating.

Link eyed the tallness of the temple as him and his wife stood facing the entrance in wait.

"It still feels strange," he said. "Being here…like we shouldn't."

"Don't worry, Link," Zelda said, taking his hand. "After today, I'll make sure this temple will have restricted attendance because of the sword. No one will interrupt it."

He nodded as he faced the entrance, seeing the doors creak open.

Gaepora stepped through, yet held the doors open for Orielle, who pushed Groose in a chair with wooden wheels. They all brimmed with excitement as they approached each other.

"Look at you!" Link said happily.

"I know right," Groose said. "It feels so freeing. And look."

He took his arms and did a slow wave, like an ocean that rippled and bended.

"Huh?" He said looking for Link and Zelda's approval, smiling when they laughed.

"How much movement do you have now?" Zelda asked.

"Everything but below the hips," Groose said, his arms lowering to the arms of the chair. "When L stopped giving me potions we weren't sure if I would start to heal naturally, but I did."

"Groose, we are so relieved," Link said. "I know we have been visiting you, but seeing you up and about is just amazing."

Orielle placed a hand on his shoulder, Zelda eyeing a certain silver glimmer with a twitch of her focus and wide eyes. But she seemed to be the only one who noticed.

"Of course there are still his legs," Orielle said. "But at this rate, I'm confident he will make a full recovery. Greba even thinks he will walk in the next year."

Groose looked up at Orielle with a smile, Zelda finding Link's hand and spinning the silver band around his finger.

"What?" Link said looking to her. Zelda tipped her head in the direction of Groose and Orielle.

Link looked at them, the two now gaping at the sight of the temple.

"Talk about amazing," Groose said as Link returned his gaze to Zelda.

"What?" He asked again.

Zelda cupped his ear and brought her lips close.

"They're engaged," Zelda whispered, Link's eyes widening. "There's a ring on her finger."

"Anything you'd like to share with the class?" Groose said, Zelda and Link separating only by a few inches as their gazes rested on Groose and Orielle.

"Uhh no," Link said, exchanging a small glance with Zelda. "Headmaster, why don't you show them around while we wait for Karane and Pipit?"

"Sure," Gaepora said, his echoing voice continuing as he took the lead and shouted off facts about design choices. Link and Zelda stayed right where they were, sharing a contained laugh.

"Why didn't they tell us?" Link asked.

"Maybe it happened recently," Zelda said with a shrug.

"I suppose," Link said.

* * *

"Welcome trusted friends," Zelda said where she stood, a long pedestal before her separating her from her small audience of her father, her husband, and her friends, Karane, Pipit, Groose, and Orielle.

Zelda was clothed in the goddess' dress, forsaking the tunic and pants she had fashioned for over a month and putting on a dress she hadn't worn in two years, the original dress given to her by Impa before she sent her on her way to the Skyview Temple.

"I, the incarnate of the goddess Hylia," she continued. "Have invited you to be here in this holy place of protection and sanctuary. Although an unfortunate situation has led us here, we meet it with courage, wisdom, and power. Despite our losses, those traits, which are at the very foundation of Hyrule, remain steadfast and strong."

Zelda gave small smile when her eyes found Link's.

"Some of us have a special connection to the ground in which this temple has been built, both gaining and losing dear friends. Some of us have risked our lives for us all to be here today, and I am more than thankful for what you have all had to sacrifice. I know well what it is to love and worry for someone in danger and I know what it is to want strength, to want something that stays, that won't crumble, and that isn't just temporary. It is for that reason that I welcome you all with open arms to a building that will stand the test of time."

"Welcome…to the Temple of Time."

All the guests beamed smiles as they clapped, Groose thankful for just the sensation.

The pittering of applause, however, drowned out the pattering of hurried steps, Zelda not seeing Indigo run through the entrance and inhale to prepare a warning.

But at the sight of red, Zelda looked up with wide eyes to see blood staining the Temple of Time, her hand over her mouth covering a shriek.


	53. Stained

Toby pulled his sword out of Indigo, the tall, blue-clad guardian crumbling to the ground to reveal the former Skyloftian knight.

Link, Pipit, and Karane immediately stood up and drew their swords with furrowed brows. Gaepora went to support and comfort his daughter, embracing her, the girl who breathed heavy in her shock. Orielle moved Groose as far back against the wall as she could, kissing him and withdrawing her sword as she ran to join the line of defense.

Link looked over when he felt someone join them, seeing Orielle and returning his gaze to Toby.

"The more you keep your secrets," Toby said. "The more people will get hurt. Now tell me, what is the Triforce?"

"You're outnumbered," Link said. "Four to one. The odds are against you. Just give up now."

"That's not an answer I like," Toby said, holding out his hand.

Before Link could even turn his head, a red magic emanated from his hand, hitting Gaepora square in the chest.

Zelda let out a scream as he collapsed to the ground, kneeling at his side and desperately trying to revive him.

"No!" Link exclaimed, all four of them running towards their former headmaster. But with a strike of his hand against the ground, Toby produced a wave of red magic, cascading outwards from its' point of origin and knocking everyone but Zelda unconscious.

Zelda was in tears as she looked at her father, hastening to bring two fingers to his neck and breathing a sigh relief when she felt a slow heart beat.

But when she stood up to see his attacker, she felt he heart drop to see Link passed out on the ground, her hand going to her mouth as she tried not to scream.

With a burning rage, her blue eyes focused on Toby. She felt herself surge with anger as more former Skyloftians came into the temple, their hearts consumed by darkness. Zelda wasn't entirely sure what was happening to her until she felt herself start to lift up off the ground.

"What the hell, Toby!" Tarvin exclaimed, walking in and seeing a dead Sheikah on the ground. "We agreed to use the magic only to break their defenses and pull the sword."

"They got in the way," Toby argued.

Horg rushed to the Sheikah, bringing two fingers to her neck, the other on her bloody wound. He looked to Toby with a furrowed brow.

"You killed her," Horg said.

"Nobody was supposed to die," Tarvin said, stepping forward, they looked as if they were about to fight.

"All right, all right," Parrow said. "We can deal with that later. For now, we have to keep focused on our objective. One of you who have magic, pull the sword while we have the chance."

With a lingering glare, Toby ripped his glance away from Tarvin, walking further into the temple before he stopped dead with two scuffs of his feet. Everyone had the same wide eyes when they followed his glance up.

Zelda was enraptured in a golden light, palms facing outward where she floated. Her anger and her rage was seen clearly in her blue eyes, looking down upon Toby. No less than a goddess in the way she shone, all before her were stunned.

Some had the bravery to bow in reverence, while some ran from the temple in cowardice, likely to be captured by straggling Sheikah. Some, like Toby, didn't budge, only looking behind him to see Horg and Tarvin bowing to their goddess. He had the support of enough, the remaining people, Parrow included, nodding him along.

He looked up to Zelda.

"You are no goddess," Toby said. "You are deluded. Your power is as righteous as mine. I am proof that any Hylian can wield magic. You are not special. My goddess would never sink to your level."

"Nor yours," Zelda countered. "Hylia was once proud of her people for their curiosity. Now, I look at you with disappointment."

"Enough of this," Toby said. "The power we have found within ourselves is born of our determination."

"Your greed," Zelda said.

Toby held out his hand.

"Exactly," he said as the same red energy shot to Zelda's chest.

But it had no effect.

"I failed you all," Zelda said in the midst of his surprise, Toby looking at his hand, "by being overprotective of this sword. Perhaps if I had told the truth, the situation would have blown over."

She floated in silence before continuing.

"Go ahead, my children," she said. "Do what you desire."

Toby took a cautious step forward, unsure if she meant what she was suggesting before he made his way towards the sword.

Orielle caught Parrow's eye as he did, the only one of the group to move away from waiting in anticipation as he knelt at Orielle's unconscious frame.

Two fingers at her neck, he breathed a sigh of relief, his head hanging down.

On her finger he noticed a glimmer, taking her hand gently and studying the ring with an exhale. He looked over to Groose, tipped over in his wheelchair and also unconscious.

"After everything," he said to himself. "You still trust him. You still…love him."

He looked at Zelda, the way her magic shone with a brightness pure of darkness and evil. She held no ill-intent, there was a goodness to her side that opposed the bloodbath outside. Parrow wondered at what had they become in their greed for Master Sword, now thinking how he had misjudged who the true villain is.

"Maybe I am the one who had it wrong," Parrow said quietly. "Maybe it's time I trust you. Maybe I protected you too much. Maybe you are smarter than I ever was."

"He is a good man, Orielle," Parrow said, bringing a hand to her cheek. "I'm so sorry for all of this. I just wanted to protect you. That is all I've ever wanted."

Parrow looked back up at Zelda.

"When she wakes up," he said. "She likely won't want to talk to me. Can you tell her I'm proud of her? And…that I'm happy for her?"

Zelda nodded before returning her gaze to Master Sword, Toby approaching it with a slow stride.

When he stood right before it, he looked behind him to Zelda, waiting for her to stop him.

But she only floated in wait.

Toby returned his hesitant gaze to the sword.

He started to clasp his hands around the hilt, red magic glowing from his hands as he tightened his grip.

It was only a couple seconds before he was blown back completely, sliding backwards along the pristine floor. His back met the pedestal with a thud.

"That sword is only for my chosen hero," Zelda said as she descended, Toby sitting up with a wince. "A title Link once had at great cost to him. It is a heavy burden, the only power in it the power required to yield it, which is simply courage. It is because of his valor that you are here today, before me. He saved all of us."

"What about the Triforce?" Toby asked as he stood up. "Where is it? What does it do?"

"Myths and legends," Zelda said. "Oh, how they warp us so. Myths and legends, never true but always repeated. Myths and legends, where would we be without myths and legends."

"Spout your nonsense somewhere else," Toby said. "There has to be more."

"Only in your mind do you insist so," Zelda said. "Here you will only find what I wish to keep unstained."

"It…it's right there!" He said, pointing up at the emblem. "It has to mean something! Why else you care so much about protecting the sword?! This temple?!"

"Courage, wisdom, power," Zelda said. "We all have some of each. Balance, balance, balance. You would not be here if those things were in balance."

"Enough!" He exclaimed, Toby unsheathing his sword and rushing forward, Zelda not budging as he prepared to strike. "Tell me what you know! No more riddles!"

His sword met a shield of pure light, that deflected his attack without Zelda even budging. He was relentless as he continued to strike again and again, attempting to break the barrier that protected her.

"You rise us to the skies, force us into a life of constant danger and death, and then conceal from us the resurrection we deserve?!" He exclaimed as Zelda closed her eyes and held her hand out to Link. She had never done this before, and most assuredly had her doubts, but Link's distant sword started to slide from its sheath nonetheless.

The golden shield of Zelda's magic suddenly shattered like glass, Toby reveling in satisfaction and yet stopping to fume with frustration, with anger, with hatred.

"I pray to you, goddess," he said, unable to hide his spite. "Quell me of my fear, let me have the power of the Triforce!"

Zelda opened her blue eyes slowly.

"We both know you have already lost your faith in me. Your tricks will not work, but I know your fear is sincere. I apologize for the danger of this world, but there is nothing I can do to remedy it."

"Lies!" Toby exclaimed, striking his sword forward towards a seemingly defenseless Zelda, but his sword was met by Link's.

It was a strong hold, which confused Toby because the sword was held by none other than Zelda. The metal of their swords scratched against each other as Toby tried to prove his superior strength, Zelda happy that she got stronger in time for this.

Or rather, that she learned to use the strength inside her.

She met each and every one of his strikes, sometimes hanging on pure instinct and being surprised, but sometimes remembering that it was Link's training that gave her those instincts.

They continued until Toby gained the upper hand, knocking Zelda to the wall as Link's sword spun across the floor, away from an easy grab. She extended her hand to try and get it back, but that would take more time than she had, Toby right before her. She resolved herself to a different instinct as she looked into his hateful eyes, her expression changing from one of fear to one of determination.

With one grab of his wrist, Toby's sword was stopped from striking her, Zelda peering into his brown eyes as the sword clattered to the ground below her. Toby tried to resist her hold, but he found himself paralyzed, golden magic emanating from where she held his wrist.

"Your heart has been corrupted by greed," Zelda said. "And so have your friends. You were once redeemable and now you have disappointed your goddess."

"Goddess?" Toby rebuked. "If you truly are all that is left of our goddess as you claim, than Hyrule does not have one. But I assure you that my goddess is alive and well. You disappoint who she really is in your impersonation."

Zelda's eyes were not immune to contempt as she stared at him, studying him.

"Do you regret it?" She asked.

"Do I regret what?"

"Everything you have done against my name."

"No," Toby said with a coarseness in his voice. "For Hylia and for her people I have done what is necessary. I know that you, Zelda, are hiding something. The Triforce is here somewhere and we are going to expose your lies to the rest of…"

With a slow, arched wave of her hand, Zelda had rendered him unconscious, letting go of his wrist as he fell to the ground. She sighed with sunken eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said, a genuine apology in her heart for causing the downfall of her people.

When she looked to the temple, all the intruders had fled, the interlopers that disappointed her so.

At the very entrance, however, knelt Horg, Tarvin, and Parrow, Zelda releasing a soft smile and thankful eyes.

"Please," she said once she stood before them, the light that had encapsulated her now diffused completely. "Stand up."

The three of them stood, hiding their glances.

"There is no shame in courage," Zelda said. "The remaining Sheikah have surely given chase to the stragglers who have fallen to darkness and to cowardice. You are not among them. Show your faces proudly."

And so they did.

"Thank you," Zelda said. "You knelt as disgraced knights of Skyloft but you now stand as knights of Hyrule. In defeating the battle within your souls, you have demonstrated great courage. Upon not my authority but your own, I urge you to go home and rest your tired and weary hearts."

The three nodded and departed, Zelda's gaze going to Indigo on the floor, her blood spilling out on the floors of the Temple of Time.

She sat on her heels, Zelda's sadness deepening her expression as she touched her hand to the wound gently. She knew it would stain her hands but gave no care.

"I know what you would say," Zelda said. "That your death was necessary to achieve peace. But, after all this time…I think I've learned that no death is necessary for peace. It may hurt more to say it was in vain, but it was. I know how easy it would be to take action to avenge it, that it may help me rest better to say I couldn't have avoided it, but neither of those are right."

With the unsullied hand Zelda reached forward, closing Indigo's eyelids and thus concealing her wide, red eyes.

"Blood was spilled senselessly," Zelda said. "And this time, I won't forget it. I promise."


	54. Aftermath

"Zelda?" she heard him ask in the distance. She stood up to find Link awake.

With a smile of relief they raced towards each other, Link embracing Zelda and spinning her around before, with a hand on the back of her head, he placed her down.

"Do you feel okay?" Zelda asked as he let go. "You were unconscious."

"I'm fine," he said in reply, stroking her cheek. He looked over to his right.

"Indigo…"

He didn't even need to ask, Zelda bowing her head and shaking it slowly. Link breathed a heavy sigh at the answer.

"I'm so sorry," Link voiced his apology, his eyes sinking.

Zelda tried to put it aside in her mind, looking to the rest of the temple to see Karane and Pipit in a similar embrace and Orielle helping Groose back up onto his wheelchair.

But her father was nowhere in sight, Zelda running with a reclaimed panic to behind the pedestal. Link followed.

Headmaster Gaepora was still unconscious, Zelda kneeling at his side.

"Father," she said. "Father, wake up."

Link had knelt as well, two fingers on Gaepora's neck.

"He has a pulse, it's okay," Link said, taking Zelda's hand. "We just need to get him to the infirmary."

"He got shot with that magic," Zelda started. "I…I don't know what Greba will be able to do."

"Her best," Link said in reply, assuring Zelda before his gaze shifted to Toby.

"What happened while I was knocked out?" Link asked. "Is he dead?"

"No," Zelda said in reply, shaking her head, "just unconscious. I had a feeling he wouldn't comply to being behind bars otherwise. I imagine there will be a whole bunch of them captured tonight, if not all. They're good people but their greed has corrupted them. Something evil has taken root in their hearts that I can no longer control."

"Do you think they are under some sort of influence?" Link asked. Zelda shook her head.

"It's more complicated than that," she said in reply. "I could tell it was them, their own decisions and opinions that led them to this point. It's their own curiosity that has convinced them that we are against their well being. I can no longer control it because they no longer take my words as truth. They see justice as getting all of our secrets out in the open, and I mean _all_. Toby knew of the Triforce, not what it does or where it is, but its name."

"How?" Link asked. "I thought your father hid those books."

"If they are willing to kill," she said. "To expose our secrets…I think it's safe to assume that they are willing to steal."

Link took a couple blinks of his eyes to think about it.

"This is a different kind of darkness," Link said. "Demise and Ghirahim…it was part of their nature, their being, one of them practically made to ensue chaos. But this darkness was willingly chosen over good. That almost makes it more dangerous."

"And their magic," Zelda continued as she returned her gaze to her father. "Is unpredictable."

Link stewed in thought before crawling over to Toby's side, touching his hand to both of his.

"If it's any consolation," Link said. "His actions have not garnered him ownership of the Triforce of Power."

"That is a relief, but…" Zelda said. "Going forward…past perhaps even our time…if murder isn't evil enough to prompt Demise's curse…I hate to think of what is."


	55. Inquisition

There were nineteen of them.

Nineteen pairs of eyes that looked upon them with hatred as they stood before the large dimly lit cell. Link could still see the glimmer of Zelda's magic around the square space, ensuring their own magic wouldn't yield their escape.

The prisoners kept their silence, the anger and hatred in their eyes loud enough.

"I wager you remember when this cell was built," Zelda started. "My father suggested it. He said that a functioning society requires rules and subsequent punishment. I disagreed with him at the time, saying that our people could never go against the peace laid before them. I figured they would have no reason to until I was reminded by your actions that greed changes people. This cell was built for people who perhaps stole from the Bazaar or maybe got a bit too drunk at the Lumpy Pumpkin and caused property damage. It was built to teach those who disrespected the hard work of others that society cannot function if we all don't agree that we owe to each other what we expect to be given in return. For six months I thought this worked well. This cell was rarely used, as I expected. But I never expected for it to hold murderers."

"With your magic and your weapons," Link continued, as if him and Zelda were of one mind. "You assisted in the death of seven Sheikah in total, whether indirectly or not, and caused Headmaster Gaepora into a bed-ridden state. We don't know how, but your magic seems to have infected him and seeps through his veins as we speak. What Toby has done is irreversible by medicine or potions, even by Zelda's magic. With all the suffering you have caused to your former friends, I refuse to believe it when Zelda tells me the lot of you do not regret your actions. So, I have come down here to hear it myself."

Zelda took a deep breath, in and out.

"Do any of you regret what you did?" Zelda asked. "The blood that was spilled to infiltrate the Temple of Time and reach the Master Sword."

There was a silence where they kept their glares.

"No," Rusta said. "It got us a step further to discovering your lies. And once we do, we'll tell all of Skyloft of how you've misled them, how you are hiding a power within that sword, and how you are faking being the goddess Hylia to buy their influence."

"And with our claimed magic," Toby added. "We will no longer need her blessings, we will take her hidden power and create a peaceful society that isn't built on secrets."

"But…it isn't…" Zelda tried.

"Those books in the headmaster's house?" Toby said, stepping forward. "We found them and found that secrets have been being kept generations upon generations before now. Gaepora spent a lifetime protecting secrets and lying and now we aim to liberate Skyloft from this tyranny."

"It's for your benefit!" Link exclaimed, hands balled into fists.

Zelda looked to him quickly with a glare of warning, but Link didn't budge. The group of prisoners whispered amongst themselves as Toby placed his fingers around the bars.

"Benefit," Toby said with a slight laugh. "Benefit?"

"Are you hearing this guy?" He said sharing laughs with the rest of them.

"It only benefits you!" Croo exclaimed, hollers of agreement ensuing.

"You talk about friends," Arrot chimed in. "And yet you clearly don't trust us."

"If you two think you can come in here and reason with us to soothe our regrets or some crap," Toby started. "Then our answer is as follows: Not in a million years can we submit to your lies when we know them to be so. We will discover your truths or die trying. And, for good measure, for impersonating our goddess, mark my words, we'll take you with us, Zelda."

Zelda could see Link's anger festering, Zelda quickly moving to hold him back from completely lunging forward. His breath was heavy as his hatred grew, his bent arms penned to his sides by Zelda's hold.

"Don't sink to their level," she whispered in his ear. "Please."

His anger stayed as she let him go, as they walked out of the underground cell and into the sunlight.

"You were right," Link said, looking as if he were on the verge of a complete breakdown as he paced back and forth. "I didn't believe you, but you were right. We have to do something."

"Link…"

"They threatened to kill you, Zel!" He exclaimed, stopping his pacing. "Mark my words if they come near you, I'll…"

"Hey," she said, her voice soft as she cupped his face. "Look at me. They are not going to kill me. We are going to fix this, but we have to use our heads. Anger will not solve this."

His breathing started to calm.

"I can't lose you," he said with shakes of his head. His blue eyes swam with love. "I won't let them take you."

Zelda smiled.

"Okay," she said, petting his face. "It's okay…it's okay. I'm right here, where I always will be. We'll figure this out together."

Zelda could still see the manic, panicked anger in her husband's face, deciding upon kissing him to perhaps quell it.

They forget where they were, and it started not to matter as their mouths opened to invite each other in. The chastity of the kiss broke again and again until they parted to catch their breath. Their breaths separating and becoming their own as they held each other.

"You'll protect me," she said. "If we fail to fix this. If they come after me, we will both be waiting for them, swords drawn, bows equipped. But before then, we have to try and figure this out. Promise me you won't go after them for the threat they made against me. Promise me we don't resort to violence this time. Promise me we're better than that."

Link nodded.

"I promise."

"We have to go about this the right way," she continued. "No matter the mistakes we made or the mistakes they made, they are still our people, they still have some good in them. I can see it in their sense of justice. They just care about Skyloft…a lot. They deserve their happy ending, no matter what we've made them into."

"I agree, but…" Link started.

"But what?" Zelda said with a creased brow.

"But I know where you are getting that notion from," Link said. "As relevant as that book is in hoping for redemption, this isn't a book, Zel. These are murderers, real life murderers. I agree that they deserve a happy ending as much as you or I do, us making plenty mistakes ourselves…but I question how we are supposed to go about this when their happy ending is getting to the Triforce, exposing our secrets, your head on a spear."

Zelda exhaled, bowing her head.

"I'm sorry, but it's true," Link said. "I wish their bloodlust for you didn't exist either."

"No, it's not that, it's just…" she tried, "well it is that, but…I just don't know how to go about it either. I know we have to do the right thing and I know for sure what the wrong thing is, but…"

"We'll figure out something else," Link said, hugging her. "I promise."


	56. The Cost of Peace

"We can't force them into reintegration," Link said before taking a bite of the food on his plate. Zelda was across from him at the table, sitting in chairs as they discussed the situation. "Their insistence on opposing normalcy is apparent, not to mention their crimes and deserved punishment."

"We can't keep them behind those bars though," Zelda argued. "I can only contain their magic for so long and being in a jail is no way to live. It's one thing to use it the way it was intended, one night or two to teach a lesson but anything longer than that is inhumane."

"What if we told them to go somewhere else with their magic?" Link suggested, scraping the plate. "The outskirts of Hyrule or beyond it…they could live there in isolation, forbidden to return."

Zelda shook her head 'no'.

"Their greed has their eyes centralized on the Temple of Time," she said, "and on me. No matter where they are, they will always return. We have to think of something more permanent."

Link placed down his fork.

"Zelda…you're not saying…" Link started. "I thought we…"

"No, not more murder," Zelda denied at his implication. "There's a darkness to their magic that doesn't belong in Hyrule. Maybe we could put them somewhere else, somewhere…"

Her expression changed as the idea occurred to her.

"Parallel to it…" She said quietly, as if figuring it out as she did.

"Not the Sacred Realm," Link stated.

"No," Zelda said. "From what you've told me, their greed would destroy it. But maybe…maybe the dragons know of another realm."

"What do you mean?" Link asked. "Other realms besides the two?"

If Link hadn't already seen some pretty strange things during his lifetime, he would have doubted it more. But he knew magic was real, he knew that reincarnation was possible, and he had seen with his own eyes the realm Hylians always thought to be the afterlife, the heavens. Perhaps there was more.

"How would they know?" Link asked Zelda.

"After the goddesses ascended from this realm," Zelda started to explain. "They left Hylia in their stead to protect it and the Triforce. She would exist in this time and space unlike the other goddesses. In essence, she was tied to Hyrule in a way the other goddesses never could be."

"Farore, Din, and Nayru," she continued, "created Hyrule, the earth, the life, and the laws of nature. Hylia, left in the land they had created, saw life start to bloom, to take on forms all the way from the thinnest blade of grass to humanity itself. She loved all life, and as the fairytales we know of her detail, she became quite motherly towards it, wanting to take care of it. But Hyrule was vast. To assist her in its protection, Hylia created three spirits born of her light. In this time, they are known as the dragons and that is why they serve her. They are younger than Hylia yet much older than me. If Hylia has memories of other realms that I am not aware of, the dragons may know of them."

"Our books tell of the Sacred Realm," Link chimed in. "Describing it as the heavens, a place for the deceased to rest, where they are redeemed no matter their transgressions. If there is truly no way there without death, to the outside of the Light Temple where a living mortal like me was not allowed entry, then you're suggesting that there may be another realm parallel to Hyrule that does not require death? Somewhere they can live on and find peace without greed?"

Zelda nodded.

"It's possible," she said in reply.

Link breathed an exhale.

"I guess it's worth a shot," he said. "We can ask tomorrow."

"Yeah," Zelda replied, nodding until her head angled down. She stared into the clarity of her cup of water.

"Do you think they are right to resent us?" She asked. "For keeping our secrets? Should we have told them of everything from the start?"

"I don't think so," she heard Link say. "I think that all that's happened just speaks to how much worse it would be if they really knew about the Triforce. We may have ended up the only two left or we may have destroyed ourselves completely."

"Could we could have handled it better?" Zelda asked.

"Things can always be handled better," Link said. "The problem is that we can never know for sure that something is a mistake until long after we've made it. But if it's any consolation…it could have gone much worse. Either way we would have had to deal with the consequences, the aftermath of their doubts and questions, their dangerous curiosity and subsequent greed. Hopefully things will wind down after this."

Zelda nodded, her gaze trailing downwards.

Link noticed her reaction, peering at the way her glance drifted away from his, his heart twinging with concern.

"Are you…feeling okay?" He asked. Her eyes popped to his.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. Link buried his concern, shaking it off with an inhale and literal shakes of his head.

"What about their magic?" Link asked, continuing their prior discussion. "How can we be sure it won't develop within the Hylians loyal to us?"

"Everyone has a proclivity for magic," Zelda said. "Perhaps not as powerful as mine, but a proclivity nonetheless. The only reason the magic of the disgraced Hylians seems more powerful is because it is destructive, and I firmly believe that they excel at it because of their greed. If, in the future, magic is kept secret, people will start to believe in it less, and thus become unable to do it."

"So you're saying the ability to do such strong magic will die out as generations progress?"

Zelda nodded.

"I think it has been already," she said. "And that this is the first instance of it being used to its potential because earlier generations were fearful of Demise and relied on my power. This is the first instance where they were fueled by greed. I am confident that if we relocate them and their magic, that will be the end of that magic in Hyrule."

"But telepathy, although rare," Zelda said. "Enchanting potions…even small things like love and gratitude. That is the magic we all have. Things we can use for good without overextending our reach and bending the rules of nature. Those things will stay in Hyrule."


	57. Another Realm

Crimson and purple Loftwings flew aligned with each other as they looked down at Lanayru Desert, sands flitting past them in a tan blur. The fast breeze swept through their hair as it was expected to, but the couple with skyward origins paid the soft intrusion no mind.

"The last time we were here," Zelda said, her Loftwing slowing, them coming upon the gorge. "I was pregnant."

Link's Loftwing slowed to stop next to hers, studying her with concern. His gaze didn't waver in the slightest, fixed upon the way she tensed up.

"There is so much I wish I had known then," Zelda said with a sigh. "We were too hopeful, too trusting in so many things."

"Maybe," Link said in reply, "but maybe not. Don't you still hope for a good future? Like we did then?"

Zelda shook her head.

"I don't want to fool myself again," she said. "Too much has…"

She stopped herself.

"If I think in the moment," she said stronger, "then I won't get disappointed."

"Zel…" he started, his eyes melting with concern, but her Loftwing dove down by her prompt nonetheless. Link watched with a worried sigh before following suit.

Link kept his concern as they landed, sliding off his crimson Loftwing to broach the question on his mind before noticing the oddity before them.

"It must have reset when we struck the time-shift stone in the East," Link said as they approached the downed mine cart with a purple stone. He drew his sword.

"Lanayru will come back either way," Zelda argued. "He is a being beyond time."

Link stabbed the stone anyway, sheathing his sword and expecting a beaming light perimeter to ebb out and settle around the gorge.

He stared with a slight tip of his head and a crease in his brow when none came.

"Um…" He tried in his confusion. "Okay. Strange."

"Try again," Zelda suggested.

Link did just that, but there was no change.

"I…I don't know," stammered Link. "That always worked before."

"Link, do…"

He looked over at her, Zelda peering at the stone.

"Do you think when I neutralized the one we had…that I neutralized all of them?"

"Oh," Link said, looking to the stone. "Yeah…that makes sense."

"So the fate of the desert is sealed then," Zelda said with a lingering sadness.

"Yeah," Link replied, studying it before they both walked forward, passing it.

They stopped just before the gorge, the deep depths with narrow rocks reaching upwards from floors they couldn't see. Those dark grounds covered by shadows were left untouched and untrodden. Any fall, after all, would spell certain death.

Link stood waiting for Zelda's words, yet she seemed to be waiting for them as well.

"I suppose I'm due to apologize," she finally said with a bowed head. "To Lanayru. For their fate, for sanctioning the mining of time-shift stones in the first place, for the nature that ran its course, for giving Lanayru hope within the stones, only to take it away."

"Wasn't it inevitable?" Link asked.

"I suppose," Zelda said with a sigh. "But I'm still to blame."

She tilted her head to look out at the empty expanse before them, her sad blue eyes hesitant before she took her inhale.

"Lanayru, great dragon of the western desert," she started in her commanding goddess voice. "I, the goddess Hylia, summon you and your kin to return to this realm from yours to do my bidding once again."

It started as a mere glimmer, growing into a definitive golden sparkle until they multiplied among each other, growing and growing, cascading. The sight reflected upon Link and Zelda's eyes, the sparkles accumulating into the silhouette of dragon until, by a miraculous and quick graduation, Lanayru appeared before them.

He faced his goddess yet his head was bowed, his neck drooping as if he were looking at shoes he didn't have. Zelda took a cautious step forward at the oddity.

"I must apologize, Your Grace," Lanayru said, with a melancholy completely unbefitting of him.

Link recalled when he gave him the fruit to heal his sickness, him absolutely radiating with energy, like some spiritual electricity was running through him at all times. Even when he was sick, he had a certain contagious energy to him.

Now he seemed completely dulled as he voiced quite a sincere apology, eyes forlorn with a greatly dampened excitability.

"The task you gave me," he continued. "To protect the robots…I…I failed. They were collecting time-shift stones for your war. They always did a good job and this region was not only filled with life of greenery and fauna, but of their life. You knew before I did that there was life in them and there was, there always was. I…should have seen it coming…the signs were there…I denied it in my foolishness and before long the region was just a desert…I failed to stop it. The remaining time-shift stones were a loophole to my mistake. Now that loophole is gone. Now I am ready to pay the price."

Zelda kept her silence as she thought upon her next words.

Instead, however, she fell to her knees with a bowed head, Lanayru surprised.

"I forgive you," Zelda said. "I forgive you because it was no fault of yours. I forgive you because I know you did your best. On account of my neglect only was this place altered to become a desert. Please, by my command, relieve your guilt."

"Yes, Your Grace," he said in reply.

Zelda looked up with a soft smile at the dragon, who returned her expression.

"Thank you for your dutiful service, Lanayru," Zelda said. "You know of my reservations regarding my…deified nomenclature…but know that using it now means that the matter is of utmost importance."

"Of course, Your Grace," the dragon insisted. "What is it you need from me? From my kin?"

"When we met with Eldin almost a year ago," Zelda started. "He said something about how the dragons reside in another realm when not here. Are there other realms beyond Hyrule and the Sacred Realm?"

"As you once knew, the realm we return to when not here is the Sacred Realm," Lanayru began to explain. "The exterior beyond the Light Temple that neither of you have laid eyes upon. Aside from the Sacred Realm and the one we stand in now that has been designated as Hyrule, there is only one other realm."

"There…there is?!" Zelda exclaimed excitedly, standing up. Link's eyebrows had raised in surprise.

"It seems you have remembered much, Hylia," the dragon said with a smile that teased laughter, "but not everything. As you likely know by now, the golden goddesses are not as perfect as stories may tell them to be. You know of their mistake in leaving the Triforce behind upon their departure from this world, but before that they failed in creating a land like Hyrule. In the very beginning, they wanted to use their powers to create a place where something beautiful could flourish, eventually deciding on and coining the term life, something that exists like them, yet dies in order to find a true meaning within existence that which they never could. They loved the idea of mortality and were obsessed with the idea of watching it unfold before their eyes."

"Yet, their first attempt did not go well," he continued. "Their experiment did not go as intended. They were too involved and thus it backfired, so they decided to try again with a clean slate. Hyrule was born shortly after, the land, the life, the laws. Satisfied, they departed for good, leaving the Triforce on accident but their daughter, so to speak, Hylia on purpose. Four spirits, which currently take the form of dragons, were created by Hylia to protect the life that was starting to flourish, yet one was singled out to reside in the older, stagnant realm, my brother Ordon. Because it was created before a new and brighter sun dawned upon Hyrule, we dragons refer to it as the Twilight Realm."

"The…the Twilight Realm?" Link retorted.

"What is the state of it now?" Zelda asked.

"Of no consequence," Lanayru stated. "My brother even left that responsibility long ago because it didn't matter. With no other role, he now resides in the Sacred Realm and is quite comfortable there. The Twilight Realm is likely as it was left…just an empty version of Hyrule, I suppose."

Link and Zelda exchanged a look of hopefulness before their eyes returned to Lanayru.

"Is there a way to get there?" Zelda asked.

Lanayru peered at them suspiciously. If he weren't subject to the commands of Hylia he likely would have asked why.

"Yes," he replied. "If you summon my brother, he holds the key. But, I must warn you. It is no place for a goddess. You will find nothing there but some empty land."

"It is not I who plans on going there," Zelda explained. "In fact, I feel I have some explaining to do before I ask for more of your help."

"By all means," Lanayru prompted.


	58. Banishment

**Author's Note: *sighs***

**So a reader asked about Lorule.**

**Lorule can still exist without anyone knowing about it. That's my take on it, anyway. Because honestly if I don't take it that way, I implode. Lots to deal with already with setting up Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess in a post-Skyward Sword fic. I understand that A Link Between Worlds has a certain relevancy, but not including Lorule is something I can get away with and something that gives me less of a headache. This Link and Zelda don't know about Lorule, and so they see the Twilight Realm as a viable option for their current dilemma.**

**I hope you guys understand. I know by the end of this story I will have lost your interest and I will have exactly one reader but I'm still really proud of this fic. I know that having the stamina for so many chapters of my nonsense is a lot to ask so by all means, leave whenever you'd like. Thank you for reading this far and if you have the willpower to continue there are still exciting things ahead.**

* * *

Link and Zelda made sure no one else was present to bear witness. Even the Sheikah that had offered their assistance in defense were nowhere to be found.

No birds chirped in Faron Woods, no breeze blew, and no sun shined. The skies were tinted grey, as if all color was dulled.

The white structure they stood upon seemed to seep through the bottoms of their shoes. They stood for so long that they could feel the cold stone. It made their feet ache, but they disregarded it.

Link and Zelda where down the steps only slightly, the group of interlopers where the bird statue stood tall. Their hands were tied behind their back, yet their heads didn't bow in shame. They simply stood there, staring at Link and Zelda, attempting to ware them down with just their eyes.

They couldn't move, although Zelda feared they would, that her magic that froze them would wear off. That the evil and hatred in their eyes would result in them lashing out at the two people they likely hated the most. After all, she didn't know how long she could hold them.

"We are going to give you one last chance," Zelda said. "All we need is your apology and we can make a better Hyrule together. If you cannot do that, we have no choice but to force you to leave."

"We are not sorry," said Croo, "for seeking the truth. If people died because of our cause, then I hope you've learned your lesson."

Zelda's hands fisted, and Link could tell her anger was rising, her disbelief and frustration at their lack of regret, for killing Sheikah, for incapacitating her father. She recalled the stealthy warriors, what she saw when they stepped out of the Temple of Time, strewn about, some wounded, some dead. There was more of the scarlet red of blood to be seen than the vivacious green of the grass, or the calm blue of their garbs. She recalled her father, bed-ridden, weak, pale but for red lines that grew by the day. And it was all caused by her people, the people she was meant to protect, the people she was meant to guide, the people who now had gone too far astray. Zelda drowned in her regrets before she felt Link's hand encapsulate hers.

"Whatever you do to us," Toby said. "I hope someday you'll be sorry. I hope someday you'll pay for your actions. I hope someday they discover your secrets, because they will. I hope someday the right people will die."

He looked pointedly at Link and Zelda when he said that. Link tried to not show his fear but it danced in his eyes. He was glad they were restrained.

But Zelda did not show fear, her eyes instead strong and focused on them. She was determined.

"As punishment," she started. "For your unabashed greed, for entering the holy Temple of Time with soured intentions, for crimes against your former goddess and your people, for assisting in, causing, and perpetrating murder, and for threatening the life of a citizen of Hyrule township, you will be banished to an inescapable realm. A realm from which you will never return. In isolation you will toil, you will survive, you will live, you will relearn peace, but most importantly you will no longer harm your former brothers and sisters, your friends."

Giving them no chance to object, she immediately looked up to the skies with closed eyes.

"I, the goddess Hylia, summon Faron, Eldin, Lanayru, and Ordon to stand before me."

She opened her eyes for them to settle upon the interlopers.

"You know my request," she said sharply. Even Link was scared of the finality in her voice.

A golden shimmer appeared in the corners of the eyes of the interlopers, making them turn around.

They gaped at the sight of four dragons, hands in their sleeves, heads bowed, each with a great energy streaming through them. One blue, one red, one yellow, and one green, they bowed to their goddess like the interlopers did not.

From the green dragon appeared a dark mirror, etchings of a glowing white encircling it. The dragons didn't budge as it grew in size, the interlopers looking among themselves in slight panic. Before long, the white patterns had grown into a portal that was ready and waiting.

"Where are we going?" One of them turned around and asked.

"Somewhere you can forget your greed," Zelda said in reply. "Somewhere where you will find peace and happiness without it. Somewhere from which you can never return to Hyrule."

Din, the red dragon, lifted his head, his eyes opening with determination. The rest of the dragons followed suit as distinct streams of colored magic streamed from them. From their chests produced a swirl of blue, red, yellow, and green, culminating into a growing white orb. It pulsed with a great energy until with one last beam, produced a relic with a odd shape.

It was a light grey, shaped like an odd cylinder with etchings akin to the mirror alongside it. It had two protruding columns at the top, like the antlers of a deer, so that looked very much like a helm.

Suddenly an energy started to seep into it, from the very chests of the interlopers, the dark magic from within their souls. It streamed from them, seeming to take away their very essence, but Link and Zelda did not budge.

The helm seemed to act as an incasement for their magic, its' etchings now glowing red and the interlopers brought to their knees. Their magic was contained.

Link squeezed Zelda's hand as the interlopers started to disintegrate into the mirror, small black rectangles rising and surging into the patterns of the mirror along with the receptacle of their greedy and evil magic.

Link resisted looking away from their betrayed and scared eyes, knowing that he had to confront his hesitance with courage for Hyrule.

But Zelda's glance did not waver, did not hesitate, looking straight forward as each one of them disappeared.

Whether it was her fault or theirs that they had been led astray, they had committed unthinkable things that she could not easily forgive.

But they were her people, and thus, she still loved them. She couldn't bring herself to kill them, as that would make her just like them. She wanted them to live out their lives, happily and joyfully and peacefully. If that wasn't possible for them in Hyrule because of the Temple of Time was too great a target for their easily corrupted greed, then the Twilight Realm would be a fitting fresh start.

Little did the dragons know, or their goddess, that the Twilight Realm was indeed a barren place, already degraded to a mere shadow of Hyrule. They would indeed toil, evolving into creatures of darkness for ages upon ages until they found their own society, their own peace, their own kingdom, and their own conflicts.

Yet that is an entirely different tale, of an entirely different kind of Princess, a legend occurring hundreds upon hundreds of years in the future.


	59. Ascension

"The deed has been done," said Ordon, breaking the pall of silence. "At your request, the Mirror to the Twilight Realm will be hidden in the desert."

"Yes," Zelda said. Her voice was weak. "Yes, thank you."

"We have done what you wish," Eldin stated. "What you felt was best for your people and for Hyrule. You promised us something in exchange, something we request beyond our autonomy and unwavering loyalty to Hylia."

"Yes," Zelda said with a eager step forward, "yes, anything. Please state your request."

"If it so befits you," Lanayru continued. "We would like to be unbound from our duties of protection, to leave Hyrule in your capable hands, and ascend to our spiritual forms."

"C-capable," she said sharing a glance behind her with Link before looking to the dragons.

"That is our request," Faron said. "The Kikwis, Parellas, Mogmas, Gorons, Sheikah, and Hylians are under a shared Hyrule now. With you, they have no need of us any longer."

Zelda swallowed her doubt in their confidence as she took a slow step forward, the next detaching her hold of Link's hand finger by finger. Ascending the stairs, she started to glow with a heavenly light befitting the goddess she was. Link never quite got used to the ethereal way she glowed, even when she wasn't alight with the goddess power and only ablaze with the filter of his love.

At the top of the pedestal she stood, in front of the bird statue, hands on the balcony. A soft wind sifted through her hair, blowing it with a whistling gust behind her. It billowed along with her blue, Skyloftian dress, but she paid it no mind.

"I understand," Zelda said, her words layered with a great wisdom. "We are to live on our own now. With less and less legends and myths and religion and deities that divide us and instead more things we can depend on, truly build a civilization on. We'll be able to thrive."

"Yes, Your Grace," Eldin said with a nod, the other dragons sharing kind eyes of agreement.

Zelda bowed her head, think upon her words before her head tilted back up.

"I don't remember creating you four," she said. "In fact, I lost so much of my memory as the goddess Hylia that I forgot the existence of an entire race, that I thought for the longest time that there were only three dragons." She smiled at Ordon and added, "not four."

"I won't forget you four," she continued. "Especially for what you've done that I do remember. Your roles as protectors are more than appreciated. I believe you have saved Hyrule from a portion of itself that will only divide it. We are indebted to you for our subsequent peace, but perhaps it is time to move on within it."

Zelda held out her hand and inhaled to begin, yet she was stopped by a "wait" from the dragon Faron.

Zelda's hand went back to her side, waiting patiently as Faron floated forward.

"You are welcome, young maiden," Faron said in reply. "And you as well, Hero."

At this prompt, Link made his way up the rest of the stairs, joining Zelda where she stood at the balcony.

"Although filled with gratitude," Faron started. "I can tell something weighs on your hearts. Something beyond our deeds today, something inward."

Zelda looked to Link, them sharing the same sadness.

"In the midst of all this," said Zelda, who took Link's hand. "We were expecting a child."

The spirit nodded.

"Yes, the girl rests in the heavens much like she would have rested with you."

"It…it was a girl?" Link stammered with disbelief, tearing up.

"Yes," Faron replied, Link bringing his arms around Zelda. She held his arm as he placed a kiss on the side of her head. "And I anticipate your request, but I cannot grant it. As spirits of Hylia's light we cannot create nor destroy life. Those are powers only mortals have in their wake. Your daughter, however briefly, was conceived and died. The tragedy of it all does not negate that."

"As a spirit of Hylia's light," Faron continued. "I can, however, bless you with the certainty that your next child will live a long and healthy life."

Link looked to Zelda's profile quickly.

"N-next child," Zelda said shakily. "I…I'm not even pregnant. H-how do you even…?"

"You must not remember, Hylia," Faron said, a smile upon her unbefitting of her previous disagreeable behavior. Perhaps since Link had told her off all that time ago, she had worked on her overactive haughty pride. "Us light spirits can see the future of the denizens of this realm. As a favor to both your heroism and sacrifice, I have bent the rules to assure you of this truth. Yes, I believe nothing changes by you having that knowledge."

"Link," Zelda said, looking to him with shared tears of joy before they hugged tightly. Link spun her around and placed her back down.

"Someday," he promised, petting the back of her head. "When you're ready…just give me the word…and…someday…"

"We'll have a baby," Zelda finished.

They let go with a chuckle, foreheads touching as they smiled, basking in the moment.

It was one chaste kiss and another before they faced the dragons again with held hands, trying to contain their rising joy.

It was more than possible. It was going to happen. It was their future, their moment beyond spelled out for them in a way that gave them hope.

Someday, in the moments beyond, they would conceive and have a child.

Zelda sniffled to compose herself, Link figuring she was tearing up like him and tightening his grip.

"With the fullest gratitude," she said to the dragons. "I, the goddess Hylia, dismiss you from your loyalties and allow you to shed your physical forms and ascend to the Sacred Realm as long as Hyrule has no need of your protection. I hope the day will never come where we fall so far that we must depend on others. I hope that Hyrule will flourish anew."

All four light spirits bowed their heads as they dissipated into a glowing golden light, soon becoming four orbs of swirling magic.

Their lights shot up into the sky, but Link and Zelda couldn't help but notice as three distinct objects were left behind in their stead, slowly dropping to the surface as they glimmered with the encroaching sun.

Zelda stopped glowing with Hylia's magic of her own accord as they stared with curiosity, their brows furrowed.

"They look like rupees, but…" Link started to theorize. "Why would they leave rupees?"

Zelda continued to peer at the three sparkling gems, one green, one blue, one red.

"I don't think those are rupees," Zelda said.


	60. The Same Page

It felt wrong to ask.

It felt wrong to push the matter, and incredibly wrong to pressure her just because of his impatience. If anything, the dragons assurance was meant to relax them, so Link figured he would submit to that relief as they entered their house.

Link sat down at the kitchen table as Zelda came around the other side, placing down the three gems the dragons left, now wrapped in a singular loose beige cloth. She kept them concealed where they were placed and huffed a sigh, sitting down as well.

"We did the right thing," she said. "Although I wish we didn't have to send them away…it was the right thing to do."

"The dragons or the interlopers?" Link asked.

"Both," replied Zelda. "I suppose."

Zelda peered at the way Link didn't meet her glance, studying him until her curiosity got the better of her.

"You're thinking about something," she said in her perception. "Scared to say something."

Link bit his lip as he shifted his glance from the distant floor to the wooden table.

"It's what Faron said," Link said. "I can't stop thinking about it."

Zelda nodded.

"I understand."

She reached out her hand to clasp his.

"It's okay," she said. "That you want to try. I can tell you've wanted to and a part of me wants to as well. The news we received today truly is great and I am overjoyed, but…that doesn't fix my obstacles, at least not completely. Physically…I'm healed and ready. Greba has high hopes but…mentally…"

Zelda could still feel the panic rising, that feeling in her chest growing and tingling. She took a deep breath to stifle them quickening.

"I just need time to handle it all," she said shakily. "The miscarriage, you being gone…and then all the loss after that…it took a toll, a strain it…it's made it hard for me to anticipate anything good. For now, I can't take a chance on something that may disappoint me…it's too much…I'll worry too much. It would all be too familiar, too…too raw. Even with the dragons assuring me that all will be right in the end…there's just too many variables to kid myself that I feel completely confident in my ability to handle it."

Link hadn't moved his head, Zelda squeezing his hand.

"Link?" She asked. "Are you okay?"

He nodded.

Zelda came around to his side of the table, hugging and holding him where he sat. It was a hold which he returned.

Link released a tear before dropping his head into the crook of her neck. Releasing from the embrace, he wiped the tear away with the heel of his hand.

"Goddesses, I don't know what's wrong with me," Link said. "I don't know why I'm crying about this. Of course I value your mental health. I know I can wait for you to get better and to help you along the way until we do have a child and beyond, but for some reason…I…I don't know what it is…I feel sad."

"Sad," he repeated, as if making fun of himself. "I sound like a child. There's better word for it, I'm sure."

Zelda stroked his cheek with her thumb, studying his sadness with a soft smile. She indulged the moment before she slid herself up to sit on the table, feet dangling and eyes on the floor.

"Do you remember when we first started dating?" Zelda prompted, looking to Link.

"Probably more than you," he jived, remembering their first date.

Zelda released a small, more forced smile before it faded, her head trailing back down. Link kept his silence to let her continue with her point.

"You were paranoid," she stated simply. "Always worrying that I would be taken away. Although I didn't mind it, you never wanted me out of your sight. When I went away for even a second you would fear I was kidnapped. You would hear screams that weren't there and growls of monsters that were long defeated. When you closed your eyes to sleep, you would relive everything you'd been through and construe more, seeing Ghirahim, seeing Demise, fearing that rescuing me and having me was all an illusion. I was beyond scared for you, living in your traumatic past in every second. The boy I once knew in Skyloft was happy and hopeful, so innocent and carefree, like a calm breeze. But you had become troubled, like a tempest. You were angry, you were tormented, you were stricken with grief and with fear. You expected the worse at every turn. I soothed your nightmares, I came to you when you called my name, I wiped away your tears, and I convinced you out of your hallucinations, but no matter what I did, you always feared the worst. You lost the hope you once had, the hope and the happiness you had when we lived ignorant in Skyloft. I knew you well for that, but you lost it and it broke my heart to see how much you had changed, how much pain you were in that you couldn't escape. I…"

Zelda shrugged.

"Felt sad."

She looked over to Link, both their blue eyes both glistening with tears.

"When you started to get better," she continued. "Started to visualize the future again, started to have less nightmares and less hallucinations…you don't know how happy I was. You proposed and I couldn't express that happiness enough. I thought at the time that we were finished with our trauma and our pain. I had no idea that it would reverse, that gradually you would be the one looking to the future and I would be the one stuck in my hallucinations, my nightmares, my fears. Before you woke up, I was starting to think that that's all there ever would be."

"Zel…" Link said with shakes of his head.

"By you merely existing, Link," she asserted despite her shaky voice, fighting back tears. "I can feel my hope again. You waking up and just reminding me of love, my father's support too, even that book he gave me, I…I'm starting to relearn hope. And someday, my always and forever love, we will both be on the same page of this fantastically crazy journey. I will meet you where I once took you. That is my goal."

Link ignored his tears and sniffled his nose.

"Then I will do everything to help you," he said offering his hand.

With a smile, Zelda slowly reached her fingers to take his hand, Zelda looking down and watching with soft eyes how their hands glided into each other.

"Can I ask you something?" Zelda asked.

"Anything."

"The nightmares you used to have," she started to ask. "Have they stopped?"

Link inhaled to answer when they heard three knocks on the door.

Link and Zelda's heads both popped up in alarm.

"You two in there?!" Groose exclaimed. Zelda slid off where she sat on the table as Link opened the door.

"Good afternoon," Link said to the wheelchair-ridden man. "How's your le—"

"Did you do it?" Groose interrupted.

"Did I do what?"

"Send those people through that thing," Groose clarified. "Did you do it?"

"Yes," Link said in reply. "Why? You were on board last night."

"I said I _saw your point_ last night," he argued. "I didn't say you should do it. You do realize that they aren't the problem, right? Everyone is capable of greed."

"People are _dead_ ," Link said in rebuttal. "Not only were they murderers but if they stayed here their life and ours would be one of constant war and fear. They can find peace there."

"Because peace here is _so_ impossible," Groose said, in a manner that it was obvious he didn't believe it. "Because they can't _possibly_ be redeemed. We've all done bad things. Zelda destroyed an entire _race_ and she's still here."

"Excuse me?" Link asked, stepping outside and letting the door close. He didn't know that he practically closed the door in Zelda's face and although she knew it was a mistake, stayed put for the time being, merely listening.

Groose exhaled with closed eyes.

"I'm sorry," He said. "I really am sorry. I'm just trying to say that this isn't like defeating Demise or Ghirahim. This wasn't good versus evil. There was no line to be drawn and yet you drew it anyway. The problem was in how we hid information, how we didn't hide it enough and hid it too much all at once and how that middle ground destroyed us. Yes, there were some bad people and maybe you are right, but I don't think you thought this through before plowing ahead."

"It was the logical decision."

"You don't seem to understand the danger in your logic," Groose argued. "Still, after everything. It's what got us into this mess in the first place. You can use logic to justify anything. They used it to justify murder and from a certain point of view, so did you."

"We did not _murder_ them," Zelda insisted, finally opening the door. "We gave them a second chance."

"It's not close to murder but it isn't far from it either," Groose said. "You're kidding yourselves if you thought that was a fair punishment."

"Aren't you the one who wanted to kill every last one of them?" Link asked. "And now suddenly you've changed your mind? You knew what they were saying, they were unstoppable. Their happiness ended in reaching the Triforce in the Sacred Realm. Without that temptation, things can go back to normal for all of us."

"I was wrong back then," Groose said, "about killing them. I was angry and I wasn't thinking straight. Killing them, or even doing what you did…it's the easy option. Just because something is easy, just because it feels right…doesn't mean it is."

Link's glance lowered in shame.

"You think we could have taken the harder path," Link said. "The one where we work through the issues…instead of sending them away…"

A silence fell.

"Look, I'm not saying that you didn't have reason to do what you did," Groose said. "But now that I know it has been done, I need to make sure you realize you took a shortcut, and an immoral one at that. Even if, perhaps, this was the right course of action to take, you still have problems to sort out. This same conflict is inevitable if we don't either tell the rest of them everything and hope that they don't fall to their corruptive greed or leave the Temple of Time to rest for good."

Link sighed.

"I really am sorry, Link," Groose said. "But as your friend I want to see Hyrule at peace, without civil war and most of all I want to see you and Zelda at peace. I didn't want you corrupted by what you did…the power in it. I cared too much to let it be but now that the deed _is_ done…we have two choices in front of us. If nothing changes, we will only spill more blood, make more shortcuts."

Link nodded.

"I know," he said. "And I know you care."

"We have a town meeting in a couple days," Zelda said. "Along with the fact that my influence has taken on a power I need to be able to dampen, we need to tell them definitively whatever it is we end up deciding. We also need to establish anything better than just us making all the decisions."

"I agree," Groose said with a few nods.

Link and Zelda stepped aside, letting Orielle push Groose into their home via his chair.


	61. Visit

Zelda sat down slowly in the chair next to the bed, taking her father's immobile hand into hers.

"The infection has grown," Greba said. "We've tried every potion we have, but none seem to have any effect. Even your magic has no effect, since your last visit, your last attempt…nothing has changed. I…I fear the worst."

Zelda looked to Greba quickly.

"No," Zelda said with quick shakes of her head.

"Zel," Link said, placing two calm hands on her shoulders.

"No!" she repeated, shaking away his grip. Zelda took her other hand to enclose her fathers and closed her eyes.

She glowed with a golden yellow light, the illumination spreading unto her father.

Yet, the red etchings on his skin did not change in the slightest, Zelda opening her eyes with a shaky exhale.

"No," she said, with a sadness burning in her chest, tears forming and falling.

"Zelda," her father croaked as his eyes opened. "It's okay."

She shook her head, her nose sniffling in order to prevent blubbering when she spoke, but it was inevitable.

"But it's _not_ okay," she blubbered. "You…you're…"

"The Temple of Time," he interjected, much more calm. "You must seal the back room. Do you understand? That is the only way. Their curiosity is too strong otherwise."

Zelda nodded quickly.

"Father, I…" she said. "I don't know if I can do this without you. I wanted…"

Her eyes clamped, releasing another tear that her father was quick to wipe away.

"My sweet girl," he said. "You don't need me anymore. I'm so proud of what you have already become. You…will protect Hyrule. You…can do anything."

"But I _want_ you," Zelda implored. "I want you with me, always. I don't want to lose you."

"Your mother and I will always be with you," he said. "Do me a favor and never forget that."

Zelda dove her forehead into his chest as she bawled, Gaepora wrapping his arms around his daughter, holding and clutching her. Her breaths were hiccups as she cried. Link sat down on the nearest empty bed as he tried to process the mortality of his former headmaster, his father-in-law.

"How long does he have?" Link asked Greba with a turn of his head.

"It's hard to tell," she said, her arms close to her body and her hands clutching her elbows. "It could be as long as a month…or he could be gone by the end of the week. I wish I could say anything more assuring."

Link let out a sharp exhale as he processed her words, gripping the corners of the bed he sat.

"I'm so sorry," he heard Zelda say, her voice muffled. "I'm so sorry I can't save you."

"My lovely daughter," Gaepora said with a smile. "I have lived a full life that has been brightened by your mother and by you. There is no greater gift you could give me than that. You shone so bright even before your days as a goddess that any darkness I faced was of little matter. Even in death, I will smile at your brightness."

Zelda rose her head to meet her father's eyes, her eyes encircled in tears.

"Don't say that," she said as she shook her head. "Don't…don't…"

Gaepora's eyes blinked to share a look with Greba before they returned to Zelda. He tucked a strange of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Don't go?" He finished for her with a raised brow, his expression soon softening. "I wish I didn't have to, but sometimes…sometimes you just have accept what you can't change."

Zelda took a shaky deep breath as she took the challenge upon herself.

"But for now," Gaepora said. "I just want to talk to my daughter."

Zelda smiled and nodded, trying to subdue her tears. She retreated back, grabbing the book from her satchel and holding it close to her chest.

"I finished the book, Father," Zelda said. "I…I understand it now. It's about hope, about relearning hope. That no matter what, there is always a moment beyond. I know now why you gave it to me."

Gaepora smiled, in his tired eyes an adoration.

"Yes," he said. "That is true. However…I also gave it to you because…"

"Because your mother wrote it," Gaepora said, to Zelda's surprise, her eyes blinking wide. "Before she got sick, before you were even born. It was a hobby of hers."

Link's lips parted. No wonder the words sounded like Zelda to him.

"I…" Zelda stammered. "You…you never mentioned that."

"It was too painful," Gaepora said, his voice was strained but he didn't care. "Considering how she died. Now, I…I wanted to make up for her absence, like I always have. I figured she could teach you that lesson when you needed it the most, that you deserved to learn at least something from her, even if it's something she forgot herself."

Zelda teared up as she clutched the edges of the book, nodding.

Link bowed his head where he sat as he recalled the memory. It was back before him and Zelda were engaged, but after the debacle with Demise and after Link and Zelda started officially dating. They were sitting on one of the small islands in the sky, studying the stars until their conversation veered to deeper and darker things. In the next fall of silence, Link asked about Zelda's mother, knowing she died because she was sick, but not knowing in what way. He asked if it was the same sickness that took his own mother.

Zelda responded by saying that she herself was so young when it happened that it didn't affect her, her only being a baby. In the spirit of honesty, she told Link the truth nonetheless, that her mother's death was unlike his mother's. That her mother's sickness was not one of a strictly physical nature and that she took her own life as a result.

Zelda's father, although terribly disheartened by the act, never let his sadness seep onto his daughter as he raised her with as much love and affection and care as he could muster. Every time he saw Zelda smile, after all, he felt his world brighten more and more. He raised a happy, joyful girl and her smile upon him was the greatest blessing a father could hope for.

"Keep the book," Gaepora said. "I've told you a million times how much she loved you, how much I love you. Keep the book and I'll know you'll always find hope again, no matter what. There is _always_ a moment beyond."

"I know," Zelda said with quick nods. "I know. You taught me that and I've relearned it with every loss."

"And thus," Gaepora said. "You will with mine."


	62. Comfort

"He's still alive," Link said as they strolled home, his arm around his wife. Her head leaned against his shoulder. "In this moment, everything is okay."

Zelda didn't reply, Link rubbing her arm. He looked to her profile, his blue eyes dancing with concern before they returned to a forward gaze.

"They stopped," Link said, "by the way."

"What stopped?"

"My nightmares," he explained. Zelda's eyes went from a great dullness to something a bit brighter, even if it was just a small raise of her eyelids. "The ones I used to get about you being taken away. You asked this morning if they ever stopped, before we were interrupted."

"Really?" Zelda asked as she looked to him.

Link nodded, moving his arm to instead take her hand.

"And they'll stop for you too," he continued. "I promise. And I'll soothe you through each and every one until then. We will work through all this loss. I promise you."

"I know," she said. Her head turned forward. "But that doesn't make this any easier."

Link nodded, kissing the top of her head for a prolonged second as they continued to walk.

"I'm proud of you," Link said, "for your strength. Everything you've been through…you're my hero."

"Link," Zelda said with a downward gaze, a smile, and a blush.

"It's true," insisted Link. "After everything, you still have hope, not to mention the capacity for love. I know your parents are a big part of that but you've taken their lessons to mind and to heart all on your own. You may think that's not a big deal, but you've come a long way, even if you can't tell the difference. When I first woke up from the Sacred Realm and heard how depressed you were, I was worried you were going to adapt your mother's illness, that you already had."

"You were?" Zelda asked, stopping and turning to face him. "You never mentioned anything."

"Because I watched you get better," Link said, taking her hands. "Right before my eyes. Every time I worried about it, you proved me wrong by showing me the life in your smile, the love in your words. I knew you were going to be okay. It's sounds strange, but…I just knew."

Zelda searched his eyes.

"You've always looked out for me," she said. "Even if I didn't know. You…you were worried I would…"

Link nodded. Zelda let out a sharp exhale.

Her next breaths breached a smile, Zelda's hands went to his cheeks and she brought her lips to his.

"I appreciate the concern," Zelda said out of the chaste kiss, her hands slid around to the back of his neck, "but I never lost faith in you, Link. I never considered…that. I never descended so far that I couldn't see the light. No matter what I've been through, I've never had the sickness my mother did, at least not to that extent. I have your love to thank for that, my parents too. I learned a lot from my father because of what my mother did before I got to chance to truly meet her…"

Zelda's eyes changed, her gaze turning away from Link as she thought upon her last words.

"What?" Link asked with concern. "What is it?"

"My father," she said, her voice quiet and contemplative. "The only thing he ever told me about my mother was that she took her own life and that she loved me. Before today, that's all I ever knew…"

Link listened patiently as he waited for her point.

"I never asked about her afterwards because I didn't want press the matter, but," she looked up to Link. "Maybe if I asked him now."

"He just went back to sleep," Link said. "The moon is already high…I don't know if we should disturb him."

"No, not tonight," Zelda said, now determined. "Tomorrow…first thing…I want to visit him again, really talk to him about the woman my mother was before she was sick. I want to know my parents before I become an orphan."

Link smiled and brought a hand to the back of her neck.

"Then I will be with you."

Zelda's expression melted.

"Thank you."

* * *

"I don't sense any magic from them," Zelda said with a shake of her head as she stared at the green gem, clearly emerald. Tiny gold lines spiraled inwards and outlined the green circle. Technically, it would fetch a high price, but that was the last thing on their minds.

"Then what was the point of leaving them behind?" Link asked.

"Maybe there was no point," Zelda guessed. "Maybe it was an accident."

Link peered at the one he held, a ruby set in patterned gold with sharp edges.

"They knew about everything that happened with our people," Link said quietly as he did. "They must have known that we have to do something to prevent it all happening again."

"Sealing the back room," she said matter-of-factly. It was something they both knew was ahead of them.

"And this is how," Link mumbled.

"What?" Zelda asked.

"What if you could infuse magic into them?" Link suggested as he tilted his head, his eyes meeting hers. "Using your magic. Use the gems as locks, the only way to open the door to the Master Sword. Then we split them up and hide them."

"You're saying that they left them as empty vessels on purpose?" Zelda asked.

Link nodded.

"And even they didn't," he said. "It isn't a bad idea."

"No," Zelda agreed as Link placed the ruby down, picking the sapphire up instead. "No, it isn't."

"Link?" She asked with a tip of her head, noticing his changed expression. "What is it?"

"The sapphire," he said. "I've…seen it before."

"In a dream?" Zelda guessed, but Link shook his head.

"No, I mean the symbol," Link explained. "The three circles. I saw it when I accessed the Triforce of Wisdom. In the Sky Keep."

"That makes sense," Zelda said. "These are the symbols of the golden goddesses, who created the Triforce in the first place. I've just never seen them in a physical form like this…"

Zelda studied nothing in particular as the thought occurred to her, that perhaps the golden goddesses themselves had a part in this.

But, she shook off the thought, reminding herself what Farore told Link.


	63. Enclosed

Link took Zelda's hand where they sat in chairs before her father, who was dozing off on account of his fatigue and his weakness. He had talked about his deceased wife for longer than they expected.

"I think that went well," Link stated cautiously. "Don't you?"

Zelda nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "It did. I liked hearing about her."

"So did I," Link said with a smile of support.

Zelda leaned forward and kissed Link.

"Thank you," she said before standing up.

"We better get going," she continued. "If we're going to meet Orielle when we promised."

"Right," Link said, standing up as well. "Of course."

* * *

Their steps echoed about the Temple of Time, Link, Zelda, and Orielle pacing towards the long pedestal.

They stopped when Zelda did, Link and Orielle looking at her while she knelt down onto the red carpet.

Zelda placed down the beige fabric gently, uncovering the flaps to reveal three gems, the three sparkling gems left when the dragons ascended from Hyrule.

One by one, Zelda placed each on the pedestal. One of emerald, plated with a golden swirl. One of ruby, with a sharp edge at the top and a flat edge on the bottom, plated with gold. And one of sapphire, three circles of the stone conjoined with the same gold as the other three.

When placed on the pedestal, they floated, spinning in their own continuous circles. Zelda took a step back as she handled the blue ocarina.

"When I play this instrument," she said, her voice echoing in a way Link would describe as angelic. "These gems will serve as a lock to the door that will enclose the Master Sword. As we agreed, this will stay between the three of us. Each of us will hide a stone somewhere in Hyrule and never tell anyone where, not even those closest to us. The ocarina will be kept with me. All of this is so that no one person will ever have access to the Master Sword and the Sacred Realm and Triforce that lies within it. Is this understood?"

"Yes," Link and Orielle both said.

"You swear to uphold the secrecy of this task?"

"Yes," they both repeated.

"And in the company of your goddess Hylia, you promise your statements of prior rang true, with no lies nor deceit?"

"Yes," they both said.

Zelda brought the ocarina to her lips, notes produced from it that caused the swirling gems to producing ascending sparkles. A door in the distance started to slide downwards, slowly descending until, with a great thud, the back room was closed.


	64. Emerald

Instead of simply diving all the way to the Surface, Link leapt off his crimson Loftwing from a great height, an instinct likely born of nostalgia. With his palms outstretched and his legs and arms sprawled out like a star, he could almost imagine himself two years younger, beginning his journey and not knowing at all what to expect. He didn't mourn at all his ignorance then, but the freedom in feeling the winds warring with his hair and with the fabrics of his green tunic was exhilarating.

Faron Woods opened up just before his eyes, growing bigger and bigger in his sights before all Link saw was the green of the grass, opening his sailcloth in just the knick of time and landing in a kneel.

"Kewww!" He heard as he stood up, looking behind him and turning around to see the large Kikwi, Bucha. The pear-shaped creature towered over the knight. "Well, if it isn't Mr. Hero! What are you looking for this time? Your friend? A flame?"

"Nothing this time," Link said. "Just wanted to take a stroll."

"A stroll, eh?" Bucha retorted. "Must be a Hylian thing. We Kikwis only really go on a good waddle every once in while. But, then again, there aren't many places for us to go. You, on the other hand are always going somewhere or doing something. Are all your kind so restless?"

Link shrugged.

"I suppose."

"Well, I'll leave you to your restlessness then, Mr. Hero," Bucha said. "Don't be a stranger."

Link raised hand in farewell before turning back around.

Anticipating the hanging Deku Baba, Link pulled out his Tough Beetle, attaching it to his forearm and calibrating it as he walked.

The sniveling growl of the Deku Baba stopped him, Link aiming the Tough Beetle towards the vine it hung from and letting the mechanism loose.

With a swift cut, the Deku Baba dropped into the water and exploded into purple smoke, the Tough Beetle returning to Link's wrist.

He placed it back in his pouch before diving into the clear water, already feeling the Water Dragon's scale fill his lungs with a newfound and refreshing breath that allowed him more time underwater. He swam into the hole that would lead him into the large tree.

Link remembered it all well, it seeming like just yesterday that he swam through this small channel of water under the tree the first time. At the time, the Water Dragon's scale, one of Hylia's gifts, was something that he had to get used to. Now, he handled it like a pro, swimming from one bubble of air to another, dodging a spiny froak until he broke the surface of the water and found himself inside the large tree.

After pulling himself up onto the small precipice of land, clothes soaked and dripping wet, he pulled the emerald gem from his pouch. Link eyed it for its familiarity, the way it captured his sense he would see it again, like how he felt when he saw the Temple of Time or his wife's ocarina. Yet, he just as soon shook off the feeling and dove back into the water.

Holding the gem tightly in his hand, he looked around for a place to hide it, soon finding a peculiar swirl of knotted wood that bulged outwards.

Link swam to it, placing the emerald stone with a golden swirl right in the center nook. As he swam backwards away, he worried that it was too noticeable, but when looking at it from above the surface of the water, the green glimmer was hidden by a bush and warped by the gentle waves. It was impossible to spot, not to mention secure.

Although, even if it did come loose, fall prey to wherever the water may take it, even if to another forest entirely, Link supposed it was of little matter. It was meant to be hidden. It was meant to be lost.

Link hoped the case wouldn't arise, but if the sword called to a worthy holder again, if Hyrule faced evil that only the Master Sword could remedy, then he supposed finding the emerald would be a good test for the next hero.

His lips gave way to a smirk, satisfied and resolved to making his way out, swimming back through the tunnel.

Breaching the water outside the tree with a slight gasp, he crawled out and whistled for his Loftwing.


	65. The Ruby and the Sapphire

She knew she was chosen for this task because Groose couldn't do it. He couldn't fly or walk or anything required to hide the oddly shaped ruby Orielle now held in her hands. But she didn't mind the task at all. She had grown to trust Zelda and Link and like Groose, agreed that hiding the Master Sword was important.

"Hey there!" She heard someone exclaim, quickly placing the ruby back in her pocket and turning around.

It was a Goron with a map, Orielle walking forward with a neighborly smile.

"Do you happen to know what this place is called?" The Goron asked.

"Eldin Volcano," Orielle said.

"Huh," the Goron said, looking around. "Niiice weather, don't ya think?"

"It's a bit hot for my taste," Orielle reasoned.

"To each their own," the Goron said. "Maybe I'll rile up my brothers and settle here. They'd probably never go for it, we're nomads by trade you know, but maybe setting up a base isn't such a bad idea…a whole city of Gorons…"

Orielle gave a nervous smile. Really, she just wanted to get this whole ruby business over and done with. Although an important task, going through with it meant that Hyrule was another step closer to peace.

"Sorry," he said. "I must be boring you with my nonsense. Thanks for the info!"

"You're welcome," Orielle said with a nod, turning around with the intention of departing, finding some place to hide the ruby.

She reached in her pocket and felt the stone, stopping as the idea occurred to her.

"Wait," she said, turning back around to face the Goron.

"Are you familiar with the goddess Hylia?"

"Of course!" The Goron said excitedly. "One of the common traits among us Gorons is an unrelenting passion for researching the relics she left behind in order to better understand her."

"I have the pleasure of being in leagues with the goddess," Orielle said, the Goron already getting excited. "How would you feel about being entrusted a task from the goddess Hylia herself?"

"Hoooohh!" The Goron bellowed as he hopped excitedly from one stubby leg to another. "I would be absolutely thrilled! Could such an honor truly befall upon me?!"

"Establish a civilization," Orielle said with a step forward, "here in the mountains. Gather the rest of your kind. Build a city fit to protect this."

Orielle offered the textured ruby forward. The Goron's eyes were wide.

"If you are loyal to the Goddess Hylia," Orielle said. "She will bless the future of your kind. If you keep this ruby safe and share it only with your trusted and sworn brothers, this volcano will benefit you, I promise."

The Goron nodded and took it.

"Tell the goddess," he said. "That her ruby is safe with the Gorons."

* * *

Zelda sat with her feet dangling over the calm waters of Floria. The dragons chambers were empty as she stared at the sapphire she held in her hands, three blue circles conjoined by gold. She traced the circles slowly with her thumb, losing her focus on where she was and why.

Her sadness was overwhelming her, dampening her, placing a weight in her chest that brought her down from her happiness. She tried to confront her future grief head on, with courage, like Link would, but she just couldn't. She couldn't fathom her father's death as she sat there. She couldn't imagine having to grieve him. She couldn't fathom not having him around.

She couldn't fathom approaching any of it with courage.

Nor wisdom, nor power, really, she didn't know how to approach it at all.

"Your Grace," a Parella said as it broke the surface of the water. "Do you need something?"

Zelda didn't reply at first, blinking her eyes.

"Yes," she said quietly.

With a deep breath in and out she looked at the Parella.

"Please hide this," she said shakily as she offered it forward. "Where even I don't know where to find it."

"Yes," the Parella said as Zelda handed it over. "Yes, of course. It will be safe in our waters."

The Parella departed and Zelda blinked at the rippling water. She shifted her weight by placing her hands behind her, looking up at the stars above.

They glimmered like they always had. If she stared long enough, she could convince herself that nothing had changed since her and father lay stargazing on the roof of the Knight Academy. She could lay down right here and imagine he was right next to him. She could imagine him as healthy as he was then, with a seven year-old daughter that he still had much to teach. She could imagine he hadn't yet lived a full life, and that there was still so much left that she would learn from him. He would live years upon years, to his very old age with nothing impeding him from a very long life, with grandchildren.

He said he was satisfied with his life, but Zelda couldn't fathom a life without her father as she teared up, bowing her head and letting herself cry.


	66. Gathering

**Author's Note: Hello dutiful readers! Sixty-six chapters and you are probably sick of my words by now but…I maybe started my own discord server? Maybe?**

**Yeah I totally did. Shameful, I know, but if you'd like to join, message me for the link!**

* * *

"Zel," she heard her husband say.

She didn't notice until then that she was clutching the podium with a tight grip, her nerves shown quite literally in the way her knuckles whitened.

"Zel," Link repeated close to her ear. His hand went to one of hers, softening it. "It's okay."

She looked at him and took a deep breath. They shared a small kiss before he sat back down next to Groose.

"Thank you all for coming," Zelda said to the group of people, who had a patience and respect she didn't expect as they sat down and their conversations dwindled. "I know my father usually runs these but in his present condition he has given the task to me."

"For the time being," she said before nodding to the commander. "Commander Eagus has taken over as headmaster of the Knight Academy."

Zelda breathed a sigh, bowing her head as she looked over what she had written and prepared. She recognized a few key words that she dreaded, a number of them even crossed out and revised before she looked back up at the gathering of Hylians.

"It's hard to describe what has happened to us," Zelda said, " _all_ of us. Even me. It's no secret that something _did_ happen. I think it is best described as civil war over matters that were not handled well, and that's an understatement."

"Moving to the Surface meant moving away from Skyloft traditions in a way that some perhaps didn't want. A part of me didn't want to either. I was raised in Skyloft. I fell in love with my husband in Skyloft and have a dear friend in my Loftwing to this day. We had thrived here at the Surface for a spell, but I understand that the shift caused tension."

"Changes were made in order for us all to adjust," she continued. "The Sealed Temple and temple at Hylia's feet were being protected out of caution and nothing more. We thought those places dangerous yet some thought we were protecting a power that doesn't exist past myths and legends. Their paranoia led to civil war and I'm sorry to say that they are no longer with us. It was the cost of war and we will mourn them all."

"But the most important thing is that it was under my father and I's leadership that Skyloft descended into chaos. I deserve no such power. There have even been rumors that I am an incarnate of the goddess Hylia, something we all know is impossible and something that is not fair to others who may perhaps be better leaders. It is a rumor that is overpowered and dominates in a way I do not want it to. I assure you we will take a vote at the end of this gathering as to who would best make decisions for our society. Before then, however, I must assure you of answers to questions I know you must have."

"The Sheikah are surface dwellers like us and have already been a means of great community and friendship. They are not to be feared because of their mystery, or because they may be foreign or look a little different. Like the Gorons and Kikwis you've seen, they are a part of Hyrule and welcoming them portends an inclusive Hyrule that I very much want to be our future."

"Additionally," Zelda continued, "both of the southern temples are no longer under security, but they are still holy places of the goddesses. They are places of prayer and reflection and are no longer dangerous. Even now, they are open to all, regardless of your religious choices. You are free to exercise whatever religion you may choose. It could be Hylia, it could be the three golden goddesses, it could be nothing at all. The Temple of Time and the temple under the statue of the goddess Hylia are places for you to worship whatever you wish in peace and quiet. Or, if you choose, a place for you to reflect upon yourself, to look inward and find peace in that way. Whatever you choose, I hope that after everything we can find peace together. Thank you."

There was silence as Zelda sat back down next to Link with an exhale. Link put an arm around her and kissed the side of her head.

Orielle took the podium in Zelda's stead.

"There aren't too many announcements this week," she started. "The Bazaar is closing indefinitely for refurbishments, but select essential businesses will be operating elsewhere. Potions can be received for a lower cost through admission to the infirmary and Rupin will be opening a booth just outside the Bazaar for shields and other necessities. The rest of the Bazaar services, like Gondo's Scrap Shop and Sparrot's Fortune Telling will be operating within their own homes. There is a job opening for someone to operate Item Check when the Bazaar reopens and you can consult Gondo if interested."

Orielle smiled at the next announcement.

"I am especially excited to announced that the Lumpy Pumpkin is finally opening tomorrow for the first time on the Surface. The bar formerly located in the Bazaar is permanently relocated to the Lumpy Pumpkin and you are all invited to see all of it at tomorrow nights celebration of Groose and I's engagement."

Hollers of cheers and applause followed from the townspeople, Orielle nodding with a smile and blush.

"I had to persuade Pumm to put Link on the guest list," Orielle said with a continued smile as the applause died down, everyone laughing at the joke.

"You have to promise not to break anything," she said pointedly to the green-clad knight.

"Not on purpose," Link muttered.

"Is there any other announcements among us?" Orielle asked the gathering. A hand shot up.

"Yes?" Said Orielle.

"Can we vote on a leader?" One of them asked.

Orielle's glance went to Zelda, who nodded.

"I don't see why not," said Orielle. "Are there any nominations?"

"Zelda!" Link exclaimed.

"I second that!" Groose said, Zelda shaking her head at the two men very biased towards her leadership.

Before she even took an inhale to refute it, she was overwhelmed by sounds of agreement filling the room, her eyes widening.

"Oh," Orielle said, surprised by their enthusiasm. "O-okay…I guess raise your hand if you want Zelda as our leader."

Link and Zelda looked behind them to see that the vote was unanimous, Zelda's mouth popped wide open.

"Did you put them up to this?" She asked Link, but he didn't reply, only raising his hand and grabbing Zelda's wrist to raise hers as well.

"Zelda it is," Orielle said with a chuckle, lowering her hand.

"Would you like to say a few words?" Orielle said. "If you accept, of course."

Zelda nodded, feeling Link peck her cheek before she stood up completely.

"A lot of things have happened here in Hyrule," Zelda said once she replaced Orielle at the podium. "We all know that our society can only get better, can only get more cohesive. If you believe I am the best person to reach that, then I will try my best to meet and exceed your expectations. Thank you for your…surprising confidence in me."


	67. Celebration

"When did you say you wanted to leave?!" Link asked seemingly no one, yet he knew his voice would echo throughout the house at that volume.

"Now!" he heard in reply, making Link shake his head and roll his eyes, his lips curling into a smile.

"Don't worry," he heard Zelda continue. "I'm almost ready!"

"How do I look?" Zelda said with her hands still fidgeting with her updo, prompting Link to turn to face her as she hurried down the stairs.

"Late," he said as he approached her, meeting her at the bottom of the stairs. He curled his arm around her back, and pulled her rather close, her chest flush against his.

"And perfect."

Link pecked her lips with his, rescinding to smile at the blush in her cheeks, that he could still cause that at such a little action, a little word.

"I think you may be a little biased," Zelda said with a teasing smile.

"Maybe," Link said with a chuckle. "But I see your perfection as fact."

Link's eyes flitted to her smile as Zelda's arms moved to hang around his neck. Link sank his lips into Zelda's, the exchange deep, one meant only for the lovers they were, their hearts burning comfortably with a safe warmth.

"Link," she said between touches of their lips, a slight giggle in her voice. "We're late."

"Mm," Link hummed, withdrawing only to peck her lips once more. "Right."

"You're just so distracting sometimes," Link said took her hand and heading out the door.

"Is this dress new?" He asked, looking her up and down. It was blue, matching her eyes and making them glimmer. The sleeves ended at her wrists and the bottom of her dress flared out around her calves.

"It was a birthday present from my father," Zelda explained as Link spun her around, her hand around his finger. "I haven't had the occasion the wear it until now."

"Then it's a good thing Groose and Orielle are celebrating their engagement," Link said.

"It's so hard to believe that Groose is going to be a married man in three months," stated Zelda.

"Yeah," Link replied. "It seems like just yesterday that he was hitting on half our class."

"Before he set his sights on me," Zelda added with a slight laugh. "But seriously I think that him and Orielle are well-matched."

"Me too," Link agreed. "I'm happy for them."

They began to see the lights in the distance, that adorned the Lumpy Pumpkin and reflected upon their blue eyes. It was just like its counterpart in the skies, orange and shaped like a pumpkin, only this one was larger, with the pumpkin fields in the back instead of the front and a larger, more accessible entrance.

"I like this new tradition," Link said. "Having an engagement party. All we really did to celebrate was inform your father I proposed."

"Amongst other things," Zelda added with a knowing smirk.

"Well, sure," Link agreed. "But my point is that weddings are usually the big deal and engagements are just seen as a step towards that. It's a very Groose thing to do to make something big out of something small. I think a celebration is what we need right now, after all we've been through."

Zelda went silent at the reminder, lamenting his statement.

"It doesn't feel like we're dancing on their graves?" Zelda asked. "The Sheikah and the interlopers?"

Link shook his head.

"We have to look to the future," he said. "We can't forget the blood that was spilled, but if we drown in it, we won't be able to live ourselves. At some point, we have to acknowledge that it's in the past, learn from it, but not obsess over it."

Zelda tipped her head to lean on Link's shoulder as they approached the newly-opened Lumpy Pumpkin, people already gathering for the celebration.

"I love you," Zelda said, "so much."

Link kissed the side of her head.

"Not as much as I love you."


	68. Engagement

Link still remembered the moment he realized he had a crush on Zelda.

It was a few months before the Wing Ceremony. Pipit's mother, Mallara, came in to teach their class about dancing with each other, a tradition to increase cooperation and teamwork. She had compared the qualities to ones necessary to fly a Loftwing and said that their coordination in that respect could only improve. Groose's annoyed scoff was audible.

However, she singled Link out to demonstrate, not because he was in any way a dancer, but because he was so famously good with his Loftwing. Link hesitated, but stood up nonetheless, feeling the eyes of the other boys on him and hearing the snickers already.

Mallara scanned the group of girls, and Link was beyond relieved when she called upon his friend Zelda. When later thinking upon the memory, Link would think himself completely dense for not seeing the blush on her cheeks. But at the time, he didn't notice at all, even when she stood right in front of him. He had noticed the whistles from the other students mocking their pairing, which he tried to tune them out.

It wasn't when he was told to hold her hand or touch her waist. It wasn't when he felt her hand in his or on his shoulder. It wasn't even when they started to move together.

It was when Mallara said they were doing good, and that they could return to their seats.

He knew he was head over heels for Zelda when he didn't want to let go of her.

From that point on, his love only grew, but his dancing skills stayed the same, apparent in how they danced at the Lumpy Pumpkin at Groose's engagement party, unceremonious and unstructured. Neither of them cared that they forgot what they had once learned.

He pulled her chest to his and kissed her as the song ended, hearing a whistle from Groose where his wheel chair was pulled up to the table.

Link and Zelda smiled in his direction before walking towards him, hands held.

"How long until you can dance with us, Groose?"

"Orielle says it's possible that I'll be dancing at my wedding," Groose answered as Link and Zelda sat down at the table.

"That's great!" Zelda said. "That's…soon, actually."

"I'm excited," Groose added.

"Where is your blushing bride-to-be anyway?" Link asked, looking around.

"She's still at work," Groose explained, which refocused Link's gaze on him. "But she'll be getting off any moment now. I'm excited for that too."

"Well, congratulations nonetheless, Groose," Zelda said. "You have a big heart and I always hoped someone would swoon for it."

They suddenly heard excited murmurs at the door, looking to it to find that the excitement had come from Orielle's entrance. Groose smiled.

Orielle had entered with Greba, their conversation contrasting the excitement of the Lumpy Pumpkin and looking like something rather serious. She seemed to shake it off once she spotted Groose, rushing to him.

"Hi," she said, leaning down and kissing him.

"Hi," he replied, his yellow eyes deep in hers. "How was work?"

"I'll tell you about it later," she said.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, his concern apparent.

She nodded.

"But I want tonight to be about us," she said. "It…it's what—"

"Welcome everyone!" They heard Link interrupt. He was standing on the stage and pulled the focus of the engaged couple. "It's truly a honor to stand before you as Groose's best man. However, I'm sure it isn't because of my illustrious way with words. I think they'll be relieved to…"

Link's words stalled when he saw Greba approach Zelda and whisper something in her ear.

"To hear that my words will be brief, " he tried to continue as he watched his wife react quickly. The guests listening saw the concern in his expression and slight murmurs ensued. "I…I think it's a testament...to how good a friend Groose is to say how easy he made being my best man look."

Link tracked Zelda with his eyes as she stood up and left the Lumpy Pumpkin entirely.

He cleared his throat in an attempt to calm his concern.

"Through every nervous thought I had he assured me I had nothing to worry about, that Zelda and I deserved each other because we deserve our happiness, time and time again. So, as your newly-appointed best man let me say to you that you, Groose, have nothing to worry about and your happiness is well-deserved. That is why we celebrate you tonight, both of you."

"Thank you," he said with a nod. Rushing towards the exit, he stopped only at Groose's table.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, his hand on the table cloth. "I really am."

Groose looked to Orielle as Link burst through the doors to follow Zelda.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"He said he wanted this to be our night," Orielle explained. "To not let what was about to happen detract from it. He told me to tell his daughter that he loves her and…"

She couldn't seem to finish, bowing her head.

"L?" Groose asked, placing a soft hand on her shoulder.

"And then he died," Orielle said as she looked back up to Groose.

Groose searched her, wanting her to somehow deny what she was inferring.

"Gaepora?" Groose asked with an encroaching wetness in his eyes.

Orielle nodded, approaching tears glistening in her brown eyes as Groose dove his mouth into his hand.

Now it was Orielle's hand on Groose's shoulder, rubbing and stroking it.

"He wanted this night to still be ours," Orielle said. "But we can cancel if you feel it isn't appropriate."

Groose shifted his hand to brace his forehead.

"That man has done so much for me," Groose said. "If the last thing he expected of me was to enjoy this night than you better bet I'll try."

Groose's shoulders shook as the tears finally came. Orielle's hand moved to run her fingers through Groose's red hair as his breaths hiccuped. There was no doubt he was crying, but Orielle noticed there was a small laugh that escaped his lungs. She tipped her head.

"Leave it to him to think of others in his own final moments," Groose said, Orielle nodding in agreement.


	69. Orphan

Link rushed from the Lumpy Pumpkin, looking around himself for her silhouette in the dark night before he spotted it, rushing into the infirmary.

"Oh no," he whispered as his eyes melted, realizing what must have happened.

"Zel!" He exclaimed as he started a quick run.

She was at his bedside when Link caught up to her, knees on the floor and head in her arms, her shoulders shaking with hiccuped breaths. The large man on the bed she cried on was covered in a white sheet completely.

After a shaky exhale, Link rushed forward and took her into his arms. Zelda almost immediately conforming to cry on his shoulder, to clutch at the fabric he wore.

They sat in a long silence as Zelda cried, Link facing the body under the white sheet and truly coming to terms with the loss, the great man that had fallen. Tears adorned his eyes, but Link ignored them, burying his face in the soft, long blonde hair of his wife.

"I…" she tried, but nothing else came out, Zelda crying more.

"It's okay," Link said shakily. "You don't have to say anything. We can just be here. We're safe here. I am here and you are safe."

Link felt her clutch harder at his tunic, as if letting go meant Link would disappear too.

"Don't leave," Zelda said in a voice so small it broke Link's heart.

"I'm here," Link repeated. "I'm right here."

Zelda cried because her father wasn't. Zelda cried because her mother wasn't. Zelda cried for Indigo and for the other Sheikah and for her people that she had banished and for her people who were still here.

Zelda cried for Link, for Link who seemed to be in a constant state of lost and found to her, for Link who she feared to lose again, for Link who she just wanted to stay. Just him, just one person.

"I am here," she heard Link repeat. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

Zelda shook her head.

"My father, he…" she said. "He didn't mean to go either. Without him, I…I'm an orphan…my parents…my guidance."

Her breath hiccuped as she sobbed into the crook of Link's neck.

"Zelda, I promise you I am not going anywhere," Link said shakily, continuing to pet the back of her head, "but there does come a time when we all become orphans. There comes a time where we have to mourn the people who gave us life. Remember I've been an orphan as long as you've known me."

"He had so much life left," she blubbered, he voice muffled in Link's shoulder. "He didn't…he never…"

"He didn't what?" Link prompted before guessing. "He didn't…get to see his grandchild?"

"I could have stopped it," Zelda said as she withdrew, her eyes drenched in tears. "I could have asked more questions about the pregnancy…made sure I…I had all the bases covered…prevent the miscarriage."

"Zelda, no…"

"I could have done anything different…with them too…I caused them to go against us…to…to resort that magic…I caused all of this."

Link brought her into another embrace.

"You can't blame yourself," Link said. "Your miscarriage was not your fault and your father getting struck by that magic was not your fault. Hindsight now means nothing to your lack of foresight then. And your father will see his grandchild, no matter when we start trying."

"How do you know?" Asked Zelda.

"Because I know he is in the Sacred Realm," Link said. "The outside of the Temple of Light, like in all these myths and legends. He will find peace there and he will watch us continue our lives with that proud smile on his face. You know the one."

"Yes," Zelda said. "Yes I do."

Link let go of the embrace to wipe her tears away, even though more were coming. He held both her cheeks.

"And I am not going anywhere," Link said. "I promise."


	70. The Last Goodbye

"There has been too much loss for us to see gain, too much heartbreak to see a mend, and too much weight to see it be lifted. Any life lost is a tragedy but to mourn so much at once is something unthinkable."

Orielle paused. She knew she was likely the most coordinated of all of them to get through a speech without blubbering, but she still felt it rising within her.

"Today," she continued shakily. "We mourn more Sheikah than we knew existed just months ago. So much blood was spilled, so many lives lost that Hyrule and the town within it hurts deeply. The deceased Sheikah have been given to the many surviving members of their race, for them to be buried according to their own customs, but we still must honor their sacrifice on this day. They…assisted us, fought on our side…protected us even in moments we perhaps didn't deserve protection. It is because of that we release them to the Sacred Realm with the knowledge that they didn't deserve to be sent there so soon."

She stopped again to wipe away a gathering tear.

"Headmaster Rauru Gaepora," she said before taking a deep breath, "was the best of us. He was wise as a teacher and used his power as headmaster to instill courage into the youth of Skyloft. He will be not only remembered by his daughter and son-in-law but by all he taught, all he touched, all he helped. He will be buried near the Temple of Time and he will be missed greatly. A strong pillar of Skyloft, him and his wife gave life to a fitting replacement, but that doesn't mean we aren't shaken by the loss."

"Uhm," She said as she looked down, fidgeting with a piece of paper. "It's customary for a family member to say a few words before we go out to actually bury the deceased, but I've been requested to read the words of his daughter in her stead."

Orielle looked to Zelda, sitting in the front row in Link's arms. They shared a small smile.

"I didn't know my mother well," Orielle said, reading the words before her. "I have no memory of her death. Unlike my husband, I grew up not having to truly mourn anyone, to learn of death through personal experience. When Link's father's Loftwing came back without a rider, I pitied him because I couldn't imagine not having a father in my life. I couldn't imagine what that must be like because of the great father I had and how important he was to me. Now that I face the pain that Link did when he was just a child, I finally understand it."

"It is because of my father that I felt loved growing up," Orielle continued to read. "When I was old enough, and he told me about how my mother died, he was worried I would think I wasn't enough for her and that it could lead me down the same path, but…it never did because of how much he loved me in her stead. My father had a great, caring heart and loved me very much. He was capable of great care and put that compassion into everything he did. He was and is Skyloft and I hope very much to rebuild our town within Hyrule based on his example."

Orielle folded the paper and nodded to Zelda.

"Thank you for that, Zelda," Orielle said. "I know that must have been hard."

Orielle looked to the congregation, addressing the group of people who, like her, were dressed in black and deep in mourning.

"We will now move to the burial site, if you so choose," Orielle said before stepping away from the pedestal, her steps echoing around the Temple of Time and accompanied by small murmurs.

Link rubbed Zelda's arm as the rest of the guests slowly filtered out of the temple. He looked to her profile with concern, how blankly she stared at the checkered floors.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

Zelda nodded.


	71. Mourning

The wind whipped through Zelda's hair, through her black dress as she stood before her father's grave, her husband standing behind her with a bowed head.

Over and over, she read the inscription, as if she wanted more from it, more words, more sense, more closure. But she supposed it wouldn't be found in those succinct words, describing him as Headmaster Rauru Gaepora, a beloved counsel to all who made his acquaintance.

With a strong grace, Zelda stepped forward into a kneel, placing a flower down so that it stood up against the gravestone.

She couldn't bring herself to say a word, blinking tears before turning around to Link and nodding.

Her closure wouldn't be found in a mound of dirt and a slab of stone.

* * *

Link brushed a long strand of hair that had fallen upon her face and tucked it behind her pointed ear. Her blonde hair was disheveled where her head lay on his lap, Link only ensuring that no strands covered her face and no tears got farther than her cheeks.

She hadn't said a word since they got home, and the two only made it as far as the living room before Zelda laid down crying into Link's lap. His fingers would trail along her face, would rub her arm, would stroke her hair. For an hour he sat comforting her, ensuring she felt and recognized his fingertips, that he was here, and here to stay. Link looked down at her with concern, his head tilted against the couch as she let out her tears, as she tried to sleep away the grief, even now as she stared blankly at nothing.

"I want to try," she said, the first words spoken since her father's funeral. Link's head shifted slightly at the change.

"You want to try what?" Link asked as his thumb rubbed her shoulder.

Link's eyes tracked hers as she sat up slowly. Her eyes were red and puffy, still wet with tears, but she slid her hands into Link's anyway.

"I want to try…having a baby," she said.

Link was stunned, his lips attempting words before they finally settled on her name.

"Zel," he said with narrowed eyes. "It's been a long day. Why don't we discuss this tomorrow? We shouldn't do anything irrational while you're still grieving. I don't want you to regret anything."

"It's not irrational," Zelda said with shakes of her head. "I'm tired of losing life, I…I want to create one."

Link searched her eyes.

"You're serious," Link said. "You…you really want to try."

"What…what about your cervix?" He continued. "I know what the dragons said and I know Greba recommended trying again, she even expected us to have been, but…are you sure you're ready to take the chance? Roll the dice? Get our hopes up?"

"Yes," Zelda said. In her voice was no waver, no shake, no hesitation. "Are you?"

"Yes," Link replied almost immediately. Their eyes met as they processed each other's words, replayed them in their minds to make sure they were real.

Bringing both hands to his cheeks, Zelda kissed Link with a deep passion, forgoing chastity from the very start. Link wrapped his arms around her and let his back fall to the couch. The touch of the others' lips continued to warm their hearts until they withdrew, a few centimeters away from kissing again with Zelda on top of Link.

"Now?" He asked, his eyes soft and focused on her lips.

She ran her fingers through his light brown hair as she brought her forehead down to his.

"Only if you want to," Zelda said.

"Yes," he said breathlessly, his eyes flitting from her lips to her eyes. "Yes, I do. But if at any point we need to stop, if it becomes uncomfortable or painful or drudges up any trau—"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, Zelda's lips sinking down to melt into his.

"I'll let you know," she said with her next breath. "I promise."


	72. High Hopes

Zelda woke up in Link's arms, her blue eyes drifting open slowly to feel her skin against his. Her back was flush against his chest and his arms embraced her gently. She hummed softly with an exhale, hearing his calm breaths behind her.

Goddesses, she felt at peace.

She kept her close proximity to Link as she turned to face him, stroking his cheek with the backs of her fingers.

"Good morning, Link."

His blue eyes opened with a smile, the hued oceans shared between them swimming with a deep love.

"Good morning, Zelda," he said.

Her hand reformed to cup his cheek and there was no hesitation for what followed. Their lips met with the passion of the night before, Link taking her into his arms and holding tight as they shared lips and breaths.

"I love you," she whispered against his lips, Link panting heavy breaths as he looked at them.

"I love you too," he whispered back. His eyes went to hers and sank deep into an admiration. "I always will."

Link took a strand of her blonde hair, playing with it as he stared lovingly into her eyes, his head relaxing completely into the pillow beneath him.

"You're so beautiful," Link said slowly, his voice soft, stunned and amazed at her beauty. He figured he shouldn't be, knowing her all this time, but every time he looked at her, he couldn't help but be absolutely enthralled.

Zelda slowly blinked her eyes and gave a warm smile.

"So are you," she said before moving her arm so that it bent under her head, it acting as her pillow. "Handsome, I mean. But I'd love you even if you weren't."

"Good to know," Link said with a slight laugh. He gave her a small peck before sliding out of the bed.

"I'll make some breakfast," Link said as he clothed himself.

"Sounds good," Zelda said with a smirk, Link smiling at how obviously she was checking him out. He released a chuckle and bowed his head as he secured his belt.

"Quite the dirty mind for a goddess," he said with a lingering gaze on her as he headed to descend the stairs.

He stopped in his tracks with two scuffs of his feet, his left hand going to cover his right.

"Link?" Zelda inquired. "What's wrong?"

He turned back around to face her as his breathing quickened.

"Last night," he explained. "We…we…"

"I was there, Link," Zelda said with a laugh. "I know."

"That's not what I meant," said Link. "Last time, the Triforce of Wisdom was gone from my hand the morning after we conceived. If you are pregnant, we have a way to tell."

Zelda took a deep breath in and out as she moved to sit on her heels, looking at Link with a great hope in her heart and a hand on her stomach.

Link shook his head.

"I'm too scared too look," he said. "I don't want to disappoint you. You already have your hopes up."

"That can't be avoided, Link," Zelda said. "When I said last night that I wanted to try, I knew this was part of it, the potential disappointment, expecting the worst and watching it unravel before my eyes. I'm ready for it now and you are too."

"Link," she implored at Link's hesitation. "Don't you understand? We're finally on the same page. After everything we've been through I can see our future. Our past doesn't weigh us down anymore. No matter what happens, if I'm with you I can handle all of it, the worsts, the bests. Just like your example has taught me. We've healed together."

Link smiled.

"You're amazing."

He looked down and uncovered his hand. His expression fell at the sight of two triangles.

Link looked back up.

"You aren't pregnant," he said with a slow sadness.

But Zelda only smiled.

"Why are you smiling?" Asked Link with a slight chuckle.

Zelda shrugged.

"Because it's okay," she said. "We'll try again."

Link couldn't help but keep his smile as he looked at her, they soon shared laughter as well.

"We will."


	73. Petals

**Author Note: Bit of a time-skip. I hope that's okay.**

**Only two chapters left after this one.**

* * *

Zelda let out a sigh, the piece of paper in her hand descending along with it with a soft thud.

"None of these feel right," she said.

"Zel, it could happen any day now," Link said with a smile. "Eventually we're going to have to choose something."

"I know," she said in reply. "I know."

Link breathed an exhale as he looked up to the blue skies, dotted with white clouds that took no uniform shape. He studied them as they both thought upon their predicament, him and Zelda both laying on their backs on the green fields of Hyrule close to their house, arms bent behind their head. If they focused enough, they would likely hear distant voices from their neighbors, all sorts of sounds of life and existence.

They could probably hear the screaming of Oliver, who was now over a year old and had recently been exploring the true power of his lungs. His parents were exhausted, but Karane and Pipit loved the little boy no matter how loud he was.

They could probably hear Groose's off-tune singing as he danced around his house with his wife Orielle, his legs spry and able and healthy, no pain, no stillness. Groose vowed never to take walking for granted again. Link and Zelda knew the couple took walks often, even after it was part of Groose's recovery.

They could probably even hear the distant training of knights at the academy, or the bustle of the growing town that had filled itself with the Sheikah, with the Gorons, trading all sorts of things from all sorts of parts of Hyrule, most of which quite unexplored. That was a restlessness for another time.

Thus, Link and Zelda breathed peacefully nonetheless, thinking of the moments beyond them. Zelda's hand went to her profusely swollen belly, stroking it gently.

Link picked up the piece of paper before the breeze could fly it away. His eyes skimmed over the names.

"You're right," Link said. "Adelia isn't sounding right any more and if it's a boy…I just can't decide. I wish there was a way to at least know if it's a girl or a boy."

"Don't be ridiculous," Zelda said. "Nothing earthly could predict that. We'll know eventually."

Link kept his gaze skyward as a comfortable silence fell.

The breeze shifted and pink petals started to drift across Link's view, no doubt from the near Azalea bush in bloom.

Link's hand reached up, lifted by a single finger. A petal brushed his finger as more floated upon them.

He looked at those petals and saw so much, saw her reaction the first time they encountered the flowers in the wild, saw her happy blue eyes when he proposed, saw her soft smile as she walked with a bouquet to marry him, saw her surprise and joy when they reunited after two months apart. And yet now he saw something else, the idea occurring to him with a smile.

"How about we stick with Aspen," Link suggested, "if it's a boy."

"And if it's a girl?" Zelda asked, Link smiling bigger.

"How about Azalea?" He asked.

Zelda kept an odd silence.

"I like that," she said, turning her head to meet his eyes, "a lot, actually. Why didn't we think of that sooner?"

Link's hand reached to meet hers where it rested on her stomach.

"Sometimes things fall into place when they are meant to," he said before the temperature of her hand changed his train of thought.

"Are you cold?" He asked with a slight waver of panic. "Do you want to go back inside? We probably should before the sun goes down. I don't want you getting sick. You don't feel sick, do you?"

"Goddesses, you're so overprotective," Zelda said as she sat up, Link coming to a kneel and helping her stand up completely with safe and secure hands.

They walked slowly the small stretch to their house as Zelda leaned her head upon his shoulder, a lingering southern breeze drifting pink petals upon them.

* * *

It woke her up with a great startle, the pain. Her hand went to her stomach before she lost her breath, her expression wincing and contorting.

Zelda tried to keep herself from screaming and focused on reaching her arm for Link, trying to get his attention. With eyes clamped shut, she finally felt his shoulder, clutching it and shaking it in order to wrest him awake.

He didn't budge, Zelda returning her hand to her stomach until the pain passed, her breaths panting.

"Link," she said, leaning over and shaking his shoulders with both her hands. "For goodness sake you are not sleeping through this one."

"Mm," he mumbled, "five more minutes."

Zelda rolled her eyes.

"Now!" She insisted. "I'm having a baby!"

"What," he said, turning to face her before nearly falling off the bed with how much he hastened out of it.

"Okay," he said, panting and panicking. "Okay. I'm going to get Greba. Are you going to be okay here by yourself?"

Zelda nodded. Link crawled onto the bed before pecking her lips.

"Think of the feather for me, okay?" Link reminded her. "Everything is going to be okay. I'm coming right back and I'm going to be by your side forever, like I promised I would."

"I know," Zelda said with quick nods before their lips met for longer.

Link pulled away and rushed out of the house, Zelda closing her eyes and repeating his words that rung so very true in her heart.


	74. Task

It was like a paradise depicted in books and stories, like an oasis in a dry and hot desert, like something one never expected until it was right before them.

Like death, Gaepora supposed, but this paradise was far more pleasant than the notion.

He knew what it was as he stood there observing it. He knew he stood as a mere spirit in the afterlife, that his body no longer was and that the mortal world was inaccessible. His daughter would have to live on without him.

Here, there were no shadows behind the trees, the cliffs, no shadows for evil to lurk. Everything was bright as waterfalls fell into a spring of clear, sparkling water. Even the skies had a certain ethereal quality, taking on beautiful pale pinks and oranges, like an eternal sunrise.

When a different and familiar shade of pink caught his eye, he turned his head, seeing Azalea flowers in bloom and vast quantity, a gentle breeze floating the petals off their secure buds.

Gaepora watched as they drifted along, swimming towards then past him, as if leading his gaze to a white temple.

A woman stood in front of it, glimmering blue and hands clasped in front of her human-like body. She stood in wait, not calling out to him or prompting him to approach, but just silently demonstrating her patience. Her long, unrestricted blue hair floated in the calm breeze but her blue eyes were strong and focused. Even her skin copied the monotone nature of her appearance, tinted blue like a corpse, or like someone afflicted with hypothermia. Gaepora knew that neither of these were the case.

However, she proved to be quite taller than Gaepora expected as he came forward, the odd woman towering over him by at least a foot, if not more.

"Welcome Rauru," she said. "I expected to provide you wisdom, but it would seem you have very few questions. You already know where you are. You even know who I am."

Gaepora nodded.

"You are the goddess Nayru," he said. "I am in the Sacred Realm. You stand before the Temple of Light. I have passed onto the afterlife."

"You can ask your question," she said. "The search for wisdom is a noble conquest."

"My wife," he said. "She died a long time ago. Since this is the afterlife…is she here?"

"All who die in your realm pass on to this realm," she said. "The deceased coexist here regardless of their mortal transgressions so, yes, your wife is here. You can see her whenever you'd like, but I have something to ask of you first."

"You are a goddess," Gaepora said. "I am not even a mortal any longer. Although I am willing, what would you have me do that you could do better?"

"You spent a lifetime serving the goddess Hylia," she started. "Your father entrusted you with the task of protecting the secrets of the goddess sword, of the texts about the Triforce and the Surface until the time came for a hero to wield knowledge, strength, and bravery. It was a great task, one that required patience, grace, and resilience. You guided the light in a dark time and just once more, we would like to ask you to do so again."

"Well," Gaepora started. "Well, of course. Anything."

Nayru closed her eyes, her form starting to glow blue.

"I foresee a great war," she said with a voice that echoed. "A civil war in centuries to come, greater than anything seen before. Hyrule will grow until then, but when the truth comes out and Hyrule is pitted against itself, it will be temporarily destroyed, and at great cost."

"I thought you made a practice of not interfering?" Gaepora asked.

"Normally, we would not interfere, but it seems that your son-in-law will not be the only living soul to visit the Sacred Realm without dying first. Hyrule is in danger but since we cannot interfere with the approaching darkness, we must guide the light. More specifically, you must guide the light in a way we goddesses cannot."

"What exactly is it you want me to do?"


	75. Legend

Gaepora sat at the steps within the Light Temple, his head popping up at the sound of approaching footsteps.

"He has been reborn," Nayru said. "Your son-in-law has been reincarnated. It will not be long before he pulls the sword."

"How long until he will arrive?" Gaepora asked.

"Nine years from his perspective," Nayru explained. "so you have about nine hours. He will then sleep until he has aged enough to undergo the responsibilities of being the hero. You will watch over him and guide him upon his awakening, as you agreed."

Gaepora nodded.

"I understand."

He looked down at the golden compass he held as Nayru disappeared, stroking the edges with his thumbs. He had been given the gift upon his first arrival in the Sacred Realm, when he agreed upon the task in the first place.

Opening the lid of the small relic, he looked down into it. He remembered when he first received it, it looking like no more than a compass and him not quite understanding the significance. Navigation didn't seem the priority here in the afterlife. His destination, the Chamber of Sages, was but a few footsteps away.

Yet it seemed Nayru knew he needed navigation of a quite different manner. When he first opened it and saw the birth of his daughter, the very beginning of his sweet Zelda's life, he was proven very wrong that it was just an insignificant compass.

Gaepora placed the compass on the floor and golden light projected a mist before him. The image was right where he left it, the end of Zelda's life where he could see her no more and the compass' motion had nothing left to show.

Gaepora placed a gentle finger on the glass of the compass, sliding it just a bit counterclockwise.

He had seen it before, but he still smiled.

Zelda was in bed, her face lined and creased with great age and her complexion paled with great sickness. At her bedside was her husband, aged similarly, but pained not with any ailment.

They looked into each other's eyes as they always had. Link's hand, adorned with a singular triangle, held hers.

"Are you ready for another adventure?" Zelda asked.

"Yes," Link said. "Our love is too strong for us to forget it. It will last thousands of years, Zel."

"You wouldn't rather us end up in the afterlife?"

Link shook his head.

"Being reincarnated with you," he said. "I'll find you and fall in love with you again and again. No paradise could compare."

Zelda smiled.

"I love you," she said her eyes blinking heavily and slowly. Link's eyes frenzied with panic, his chest lurching. Link took a shaky inhale as his wife faded from existence.

"I love you, too," Link replied, kissing her hand and tears streaking his face. The image blurred into darkness for Gaepora.

Gaepora took his finger to the glass of the compass again, sliding it in multiple counterclockwise circles, again and again, images flipping in a chaotic manner back the line of time until they settled. Link and Zelda appeared much younger.

"What's wrong?!" Link exclaimed, completely panicked, looking to Greba.

"She's having a panic attack," Greba replied. "I need her to breathe normally."

"Zelda!" Link said, taking Zelda's hand quickly, "Zelda, look at me."

She tipped her head and opened her blue eyes, her chest still heaving with panic.

"You are at term," Link said. "I am here, by your side, and everything is going to turn out fine."

"Link…"

"Remember the feather," Link insisted, hand reforming in hers so that their fingers entangled, "the Loftwing's feather. Remember how it falls, drifts, the wind floats it up and down slowly and gently."

Zelda nodded as her breathing slowed forcibly and audibly. Her hand clamped Link's before she let out a distressed scream, her eyes closing tightly shut.

"Better," Greba prompted. "Just one more big push."

Zelda sat up with one last intense exclamation of pain, her grip on Link's hand tightening so much he feared she might break it.

But he wouldn't care if she did, forgetting everything as the pained screams of his wife melded into the cries of a newly born baby. Zelda's head fell back onto the bed as she panted.

Everything seemed to slow down for Link when he saw a glimpse of their child, skin tainted with blood, but moving and crying, held by Greba's gentle hands. Tears fell upon his cheeks as he tracked the baby with his eyes. Greba and Orielle smiled as they cleaned the tiny life as best they could, eventually swaddling it in the nearest blanket they could find.

"It's a girl," Orielle said as she handed her to Link, who took his daughter gently with a breaching smile. He only knew her a few seconds and he was already completely succumbed by her. Wrapped in the sailcloth of long, long ago, white with a blue emblem stretched across it, he loved this little bundle so much as he stared with adoration in his eyes.

He looked to Zelda with a smile, but her eyes were clamped closed, her head shaking, beads of sweat wetting her bangs.

"Link, I…I can't."

"Zel, it's okay," Link said with a laugh, sitting on the bed she lay with their daughter in his arms. "She's okay."

"She?" Zelda asked, before her eyes drifted open.

With an exhale, she felt a great relief in her heart, her blue eyes crying tears of joy and her lungs expelling joyous laughter.

"Hi," she said. Link could see her fatigue but she didn't seem to care. Her finger touched the soft cheek of her daughter and Link kissed Zelda's forehead.

The images flipped as Gaepora slid his finger clockwise just the slightest bit.

A more well-rested Zelda was holding her baby, the new mother cuddled up against her husband. They looked at their sleeping daughter with a great love and thankfulness. They knew how precious she was, and how lucky they were to be blessed with such a beautiful miracle.

"What are you thinking about?" Zelda asked Link.

Link smiled.

"Your vows."

"My vows?" Zelda retorted. "This is a bad time to rethink marrying me, Link."

"No," Link said with a chuckle. "That's not what I meant. I was just thinking…when we got married. You said something about Hyrule being a kingdom."

Zelda shrugged as much as she could.

"That was just referring to books I read as a child," Zelda explained. "Those large kingdoms, lofty kings and queens. A knight protects and defends his princess, they fall in love even if maybe they weren't meant to, or maybe that means they were. But in the grand scheme of things nothing else matters but their love. It captured my imagination, as those stories are meant to, made me dream of someday living a castle, finding my knight, and taking it all for granted."

"And now?"

Zelda laughed.

"And now I have, I suppose, found my knight and all. But I've grown up as well, knowing that there is no castle, but most importantly knowing not to take things for granted. I don't need to dream about a happy ending anymore."

"If you think about it," Link said. "Hyrule can be whatever we want it to be. We know our people are loyal to us. They chose you as their leader. We could have it be a kingdom, something centralized to unite it. Our daughter could even be a Princess, the first one, Princess Zelda Azalea of Hyrule."

"Princess Zelda, huh?" Zelda retorted. "That sounds so strange."

"It doesn't have to," Link said, stroking his daughter's small, soft cheek with a single finger. His calloused hand was so gentle with his daughter, and yet so strong holding a sword.

"No," Zelda said, smiling at the sight. "It doesn't have to."

"So, what do you think?" Link asked, looking from his daughter to his wife. "It isn't too ridiculous."

"Do you know anything about starting a kingdom?" She asked, looking at Link.

"No, but we'll figure it out together."

"And if it fails?"

"I think you know the answer to that one, Zel."

"Yes," she said, moving her head so that it returned comfortably in the crook of his neck. Their daughter slept peacefully in her parents caring gaze. "Yes I believe I do."

Gaepora closed the compass with a smile, his heart warm. No matter how many times he saw his granddaughter, no matter how many times he opened the compass and saw the family Zelda had beyond him, his heart warmed all the same.

Someday, after this task was complete, he would reunite with his wife, show her the moments beyond her death, what their daughter became, and they would be terribly proud.

Rauru Gaepora stood up slowly, ascending the steps and walking purposefully to the back room. The door closed behind him as he entered the Chamber of Sages.

* * *

The End

* * *

Author's Note: I told you there would only be one person here at the end of 75 chapters (hello Emily). Normal people wouldn't have the stomach to tolerate me for 75 chapters so I suppose that I'm addressing the few and far between abnormal, if anyone is here at all.

This story was the easiest to write and the hardest to finish. Everything about the plot came so naturally that the writing came smoothly. The relative ease surprised me and thus I take great pride and joy in the fact that I wrote something so large and still arguably cohesive. I love this story and I love my readers for loving it as long as they could. I love how much this story grew from my original vision and I love what I was able to accomplish in putting Skyward Sword to a narrative end and connecting it with Ocarina of Time. As a Zelda fan, it gives me much happiness. But, as I said, this story was the hardest to finish.

This past summer I struggled a lot with mental health. In fact, there was a point in July where this story was finished enough and I was planning to hand my computer over to someone else to finish posting it for the people that matter, which is you guys. You see, at the time I was planning to end my own life.

Now, three months later, I am still around and am doing much better. It was very difficult getting to this point, but I have posted all the chapters as my alive self, and I don't plan on ending my life there. I assure you that I want to live and am doing much better, so this is not meant to garner pity or to be taken as a warning sign. I have a strong support system that includes professionals and medication, as well as people I love and who miraculously still love me. The point of me telling you all this is so you know that when I thank you for your support, I wholeheartedly mean it. When I was in the hospital for self-harm in September and couldn't post the next chapter of "A Moment Beyond", I realized how much I ardently wanted to for you guys, and that was the very beginning of me wanting to get back to my life, and thus wanting my life back. At the end of every single one of my stories I thank my readers, but this gratitude is one I must insist upon even more. Thank you all so much for making it here with me.

That's about all the sappy, sentimental talk I have in me. I bet you are tired of me and just want to leave BUT some of you might be wondering about my next project so…Stay tuned? It's actually coming soon because Age of Calamity makes it time-sensitive. Before November 20th for sure. Until then, I'm doing alot on Tumblr so check me out there if you'd like. Same username.

Until then,

-fatefulfaerie


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